Betraying My People
by kisshuismylife
Summary: Ichigo hated Ryou from the beginning, but when she quits, he makes the biggest mistake of his life. Now Ichigo's got a new plan, and it doesn't involve being a Mew Mew.
1. Ryou's Mistake

**Betraying My People Chapter 1:**

**Ryou's Mistake**

"Ichigo! Get to work!" Ichigo snarled, but obeyed. She had been working for Shirogane Ryou for less than a month, and she hated him. On top of that, she was the only one who actually worked. Mint never did anything, Lettuce broke all the dishes, and they hadn't found the other two Mews yet. As Ryou opened his mouth again, Ichigo snapped.

"SHUT UP!" she screamed. "I'm sick of hearing you complain about how awful I am. I QUIT!"

Ryou looked shocked. "Y-you can't quit, you're a Mew!" he said.

"Watch me," Ichigo spat, and stomped out. She went straight home, and her parents looked up, startled.

"Shouldn't you be at the Café?" Sakura asked.

"NO! I'm sick of hearing Ryou tell me how horrible I am!" Ichigo shouted. "I told him I was quitting. If you see him, DO NOT let him in this house." Without waiting for an answer, she went to her room and slammed the door.

_**Later that night: **_Ichigo was watching TV when the doorbell rang. Her parents were in the kitchen, washing dishes. "Ichigo, can you get the door?" Sakura called.

Ichigo sighed and went to the door. As soon as she opened it, someone pressed a cloth over her face, and she felt herself start to lose consciousness. The last thing she heard before she passed out was, "Say goodbye to your past."

_**Still later: **_Ichigo woke up, and found herself on a medical table in- _the basement of Café Mew Mew? _She wondered. _Why am I here? _

Then she heard Ryou's voice. "Waking up?"

"RYOU! What the HELL did you do?" Ichigo screamed. Moving around, she discovered she wasn't tied up, so she got off the table and stood up. She glared at Ryou, who seemed shocked.

"You still remember me?" he asked.

"Of course I remember you, you're the guy who's been making my life miserable lately," Ichigo said. "Why did you kidnap me, and where are my parents?"

Ryou looked away. Then he muttered something, and Ichigo heard, "Damn. The brainwashing machine didn't work."

"You tried to _brainwash _me!?" Ichigo asked. "Just so I'd work for you? You're out of your mind. I'm NEVER going to work for you! I'm going home." She started to walk to the stairs, when Ryou grabbed her arm. She spun and kicked him in the shin, and he let go.

Ichigo ran all the way home, and went to her front door. Strangely, it was open. "Mom? Dad?" Ichigo called out hesitantly. She cautiously walked in, and to the living room. What she saw there made her scream.

Both her parents were lying on the floor, dead. Someone, most likely Ryou, had stabbed both of them to death. Ichigo was paralyzed in shock. Then the paralysis snapped, and she thought. She could kill Ryou, but she'd end up in jail. Then another idea occurred to her. A pair of amber eyes appeared in her mind's eye.

_Kisshu, _she thought. _If I join him, I'll have a better chance of getting revenge on Ryou. Now the only two problems are finding him- and convincing him to let me join him._

**Okay, new plan while I try to think of stuff for Ichigo's Illness and Amnesia. Review plz!**


	2. Finding Kisshu

**Betraying My People Chapter 2:**

**Finding Kisshu**

Ichigo packed a few things into her backpack, and left her house. Someone would find her parents eventually, but by then, she would hopefully be helping Kisshu.

As soon as she was out the door, though, she realized she had no idea as to where Kisshu might be. If he lived on a spaceship or in some other dimension, there was no way she could get to him. She started to think about what she could do. She couldn't use the computers at the Café, Ryou was still there. She knew that if she transformed, the Café computers would alert Ryou, so she hadn't transformed. She had brought her pendant, but she knew she'd have to find a way to deactivate the tracking device on it.

Finally she decided to go to her favorite park, and think about what to do there. In the middle of the street wasn't the best place to be lost in thought. That decided, she headed to Inohara Park.

She finally reached the huge sakura tree, and walked around it. Halfway around, though, she tripped on something, and fell. To her surprise, she heard someone say, "Ow, what was that?"

Ichigo picked herself up and looked back. To her shock, she was looking at Kisshu! "Kisshu?" she asked.

"Yeah…" Kisshu said suspiciously. "What are you doing out here, Koneko-chan?"

Ichigo decided to get straight to the point, so she said, "Looking for you."

"What? Why, so you can kill me?" Kisshu asked. "I thought most of you would be sleeping around now."

Ichigo sighed. "I'd have a very hard time sleeping anyways, but no, I wasn't looking for you to kill you. I wanted to ask if I could join you."

Kisshu looked shocked. "You _want _to join me?" he asked. "Why?"

"That blonde bastard who created the Mews murdered my parents a few hours ago," Ichigo said. "He thought that if he did that and brainwashed me, I'd continue working for him, even though I hate him. But the brainwashing machine didn't work on me, so I remembered everything- including the fact that I quit Café Mew Mew today."

"Your leader _murdered _your parents!?" Kisshu asked, horrified.

Ichigo nodded, looking down.

Kisshu was silent for a moment, then said, "It's okay with me if you want to join, but I have to run it by my leader first. Do you still have that transformation device?"

"Yeah, but I need to find some way of disabling the tracking device in it," Ichigo said. "It's not going to help if Ryou can track me anywhere I go."

"True," Kisshu said. "I can probably figure that out, but we have to talk to my leader before that. Come with me." He offered Ichigo his hand, and she took it.

Kisshu teleported to his spaceship, and landed. Ichigo stumbled a bit. "You okay?" Kisshu asked.

"Just a little dizzy," Ichigo said.

"Teleporting can do that if you're not used to it," Kisshu said. Suddenly the room faded away, and was replaced by blue mist. Kisshu immediately went down on one knee and bowed his head; Ichigo hesitantly copied him.

A light formed above them, and a child-like voice said, "Kisshu, why have you brought a human here?"

"This is Mew Ichigo, the leader of the Mew Mews," Kisshu replied. "She offered to join us. Is that okay?"

"And why did she offer to join us?" the child-like voice asked.

"Her leader killed her parents," Kisshu replied. "Is it alright for her to join us?"

"I would like to ask her some questions," the child-like voice said. Ichigo sensed the focus had shifted to her, and was proven correct as the voice asked, "Mew Ichigo, are you willing to help us eliminate the humans and take back the Earth for my people?"

"Hai," Ichigo replied. She felt had felt differently about the aliens' motives since she saw her parents dead.

"What could you gain from this?" the voice asked. "You are part human yourself."

"I would gain the chance to avenge my parents by killing their murderer," Ichigo said. "Other than that, I wouldn't gain anything."

"Then why are you so willing to help?" the voice asked.

"I'm sure you have your reasons for taking over the Earth," Ichigo replied. "And without my parents, there is nothing there for me anymore. I'm sure your reasons for fighting are far more noble than those of the creator of the Mew Mews, who doesn't really care about anyone but himself. I'd rather work for someone with a good cause than a selfish one."

There was silence for a minute, then the voice said, "An admirable view. Very well, you may work for us."

"Arigato," Ichigo said.

The voice then said, "Kisshu, I will put her under your command. I am sending your brothers to help as well. Do not fail me."

"Hai, Deep Blue-sama," Kisshu said. The blue mist and the light faded, leaving Ichigo and Kisshu alone.

**I'll work on this more tomorrow, I think.**


	3. Pai and Taruto

**Betraying My People Chapter 3:**

**Pai and Taruto**

"We should get the tracking device on your transformation device disabled," Kisshu told Ichigo.

"Okay," Ichigo said. "I'm not good with technology, though."

"That's fine, I can figure it out," Kisshu said. "You're pretty calm about this."

"What do you mean?" Ichigo said.

"I mean your parents just died, and you're not crying or anything," Kisshu said.

"I don't think it's sunk in yet," Ichigo said. "That part of this whole thing seems unreal to me. Or maybe I'm just too tired to think about it."

"You're tired?" Kisshu asked.

"Yeah, it's pretty late on Earth," Ichigo said. "And having cat genes doesn't help."

"Why's that?" Kisshu asked.

"Cats need about nineteen hours of sleep a day," Ichigo explained. "It's a good thing I'm only half cat, or I'd be sleeping all the time."

"Wow…" Kisshu said. "I only need about seven hours to go back to full strength. I guess humans are different, though."

"A regular human my age is only supposed to need nine hours," Ichigo said. "But some of us like to sleep more than that."

"That sounds like being lazy," Kisshu said. "Let's go find a way to disable the tracking device." He led Ichigo to another room, and took a tool box off a shelf. "Where's your transformation device?" he asked.

Ichigo dug around in her pocket, and produced the pendant. She handed it to Kisshu, and he started to examine it. Suddenly it started beeping, and Kisshu dropped it. "Why is it doing that?" he asked.

"Someone might be trying to contact me," Ichigo said. "Just ignore it. Ryou and the others can go to hell for all I care."

Suddenly Ryou's voice came through the tiny speaker. _"Where are you?" _he asked.

Ichigo picked up the pendant and said, "That's none of your business. Go to hell, Ryou." She tapped the pendant, cutting him off. Then she handed the pendant back to Kisshu. "That should take care of it for a while, but you might want to disable the communication device in there too, or we'll be getting a lot of those calls," Ichigo said.

"Okay," Kisshu said. He took a tiny screwdriver and opened up the pendant. Then he got to work.

An hour later, he was done, and Ichigo was half-asleep. Noticing this, Kisshu said, "Do you want me to show you where you'll be sleeping?"

"Yes please," Ichigo said tiredly.

Kisshu handed back the pendant, and said, "Follow me."

Ichigo followed him to a room with a single bed, a desk, a small nightstand, and a closet. "The bathroom's just down the hall, second door on the left," Kisshu said. "Do you want me to leave you alone?"

"Yes please…" Ichigo said.

"Good night," Kisshu said.

"Good night," Ichigo replied. She closed the door as Kisshu left. She got out her pajamas, and put them on, then basically fell into bed. She was asleep immediately.

The next morning, she was awakened by banging on the door, and Kisshu shouting, "Ichigo, we've got company!"

Ichigo jumped out of bed, and yelled back, "I'll be right there!" She quickly got her clothes on, and brushed out her hair. Deciding she didn't have time to put it up, she got her shoes, grabbed her pendant, and ran out the door.

Kisshu was waiting for her, and he said, "Come with me." Ichigo followed him to the main room, and saw two more Cyniclons. One was older than her, with purple hair, and he looked serious. The other was still a child, and he had brown hair and a bored expression. Kisshu said, "These are my brothers. Pai-" he pointed to the older Cyniclon- "And Taruto." He pointed to the younger Cyniclon.

Ichigo bowed and said, "Nice to meet you."

Both nodded, then Pai turned to Kisshu. "Deep Blue-sama has informed us that we are to help you eliminate the humans. He also said that the leader of the Mew Mews joined us. Why is that?"

"Her leader killed her parents, so she came to me and said she wanted to join us," Kisshu said. "I thought- and it seems Deep Blue-sama agrees- that without their leader, it will be much easier to take the others down. With them out of the picture, we should have no trouble taking over this planet."

"Very well," Pai said. He turned to Ichigo and said, "Mew Ichigo, do you know how to fight?"

"I have my Mew powers, if that's what you mean," Ichigo said. "And I have cat reflexes."

"What do you look like when you transform?" Taruto asked.

"I can show you," Ichigo said. She took out her pendant, and transformed. Taruto started giggling. "What?" Ichigo asked.

"That outfit is silly," Taruto said.

"Personally, I hate it, but it was part of the becoming a Mew, so it's not like I've got a choice," Ichigo said.

"I think it's cute," Kisshu said with a smirk.

"What is your weapon?" Pai asked.

Ichigo summoned her Strawberry Bell, and showed it to Pai. "Who came up with these things?" Pai asked.

"Ryou, the guy who killed my parents," Ichigo said. "I'm guessing he's some kind of pervert, considering the outfits he created for the Mew Mews."

"I can probably change the outfit and weapon," Pai said.

"Why not just turn her into a Cyniclon?" Taruto suggested. "Then we wouldn't have to worry about the transformation. She wouldn't have to transform."

"If we did that, we'd be spending months teaching her how to use those new powers," Pai said. "I'd rather change the pendant."

"Either way is fine, but I'd like to do something about this totally embarrassing outfit," Ichigo said.

"Okay, give me your transformation device," Pai said. Ichigo detransformed and handed her pendant over.

Pai took it and teleported out. "Do you know how to cook?" Kisshu asked Ichigo.

"Yeah," Ichigo said. "Let me guess, none of you know how, right?"

"Not really," Kisshu said awkwardly.

"And Pai is a disaster in the kitchen," Taruto said. "Kisshu, remember the time he poisoned us?"

"Ugh, I don't even want to think about that," Kisshu said. "That was awful."

"What happened?" Ichigo asked.

"Pai made this really weird thing for dinner, and we tried it," Taruto said. "Mom and Dad didn't try it, but the rest of us spent two days doing nothing but throwing up. Ever since then, Pai isn't allowed near the kitchen."

"That makes me feel sick just thinking about it," Kisshu said.

"Sorry," Taruto said.

"So I take it I'll be cooking for you guys?" Ichigo asked.

"If you want to eat, than it's a good idea," Kisshu said. "And keep Pai far away from anything you're making."

"Got it," Ichigo said. "What do you guys want for breakfast?"

"I'm not sure what we have right now," Kisshu admitted.

"Then let's go look," Ichigo said. "Do you have a kitchen?"

"Yeah," Kisshu said. He led the way to a large kitchen, and said, "Anything in here, you can use."

Ichigo nodded and started looking around. She found a lot of ramen, and a few boxes of cereal. There was a bowl of fruit, and a bunch of other random things. Then she looked in a cabinet, and found a box of pancake mix. "Do you guys want pancakes?" she asked Kisshu and Taruto.

"What are they?" Kisshu asked.

"You have pancake mix and you don't know what it is?" Ichigo asked.

"Something like that," Kisshu said. "So what are pancakes?"

"Flat cakes that you cook on a griddle or a pan," Ichigo said. "They're better with fruit or chocolate chips, but they're good plain too."

"Okay," Kisshu said. "Do you put anything on them?"

"I like maple syrup, but I don't think you have any," Ichigo said. "There might be some at my house, though."

"Where would it be?" Kisshu asked.

"The refrigerator," Ichigo said. "It's probably on the doorshelf, if the police haven't taken stuff away yet."

"Okay," Kisshu said. "I'll go look for it."

"Be careful," Ichigo said.

"I will," Kisshu said. Then he teleported out, and Ichigo started making the pancake batter.

Halfway through the first batch, Ichigo noticed Taruto was staring at her. "What?" she asked.

"That smells _good," _Taruto said. "Is it going to be ready soon?"

"Yes," Ichigo said. "Do you want to tell Pai it's breakfast time?"

"NO! He'll blast me out the door for disturbing him!" Taruto said.

"Okaaay…." Ichigo said. "I guess we could save some pancakes for when he's not busy."

"That's a good idea," Kisshu said, teleporting back in. "Is one of these maple syrup?" He held up a bottle of chocolate sauce and a bottle of maple syrup.

"The one in your right hand is maple syrup, the other one is chocolate sauce," Ichigo said. "Both are good."

"Okay, good," Kisshu said. "Are the pancakes done?"

"The first batch is," Ichigo said. "I was just about to put more on."

"YAY!" Taruto said. "Can I have the first batch?"

"You and Kisshu can share, there's four pancakes," Ichigo said. "And remember, we're saving some for Pai."

"Yeah, yeah," Taruto said. He and Kisshu came and got two pancakes each, then went back to the table as Ichigo put the next batch on.

Soon there was a large plate of pancakes, and Ichigo had finished up all the batter. She sat down to eat, putting aside five pancakes for Pai. Kisshu and Taruto had already finished their share of the pancakes- except for one, which they were fighting over.

"Honestly, just cut the pancake in half," Ichigo said. "You don't have to fight over it."

Taruto suddenly grabbed the pancake and stuffed the whole thing into his mouth. "YOU'RE DEAD!" Kisshu shouted.

Taruto finished chewing, and smirked. "Catch me if you can!" he said, and teleported out. Kisshu teleported out after him.

Ichigo sighed; now she had to do the dishes. She got up and started washing the dirty dishes.

Pai came in a while later, and said, "I finished your pendant. Try it out."

Ichigo obeyed, and she transformed. Now she was wearing a pair of loose dark pink pants tucked into short black boots, and a black skintight shirt. She had hot pink fingerless gloves that went halfway to her elbows, and a black ribbon tied around her neck, which supported her pendant. Her hair hadn't changed from her human color and was pulled back into a single ponytail, and there were two curls hanging on either side of her face. Her cat ears were the same, but her tail now had a black ribbon with a pink heart on it. "This is great, thanks Pai!" Ichigo said.

"You should have a new weapon, too," Pai said.

"Okay," Ichigo said. She concentrated, and words came to mind. "Strawberry Blade!" she cried, and felt something in her hand. She opened her eyes, and saw that she was holding a long sword with a black hilt and pink strawberries along the blade. "Cool!" she said, and made it disappear.

"Good," Pai said. "Do you know where Kisshu and Taruto are?"

"No," Ichigo said. "They both teleported out a while ago, fighting over the last pancake. I managed to save you some pancakes, they're over there." She pointed to the counter.

"Thank you," Pai said. "Would you see if you can find Kisshu and Taruto? I think we should start planning."

"Sure," Ichigo said. She walked out of the kitchen, and started looking around. Then she heard the sound of shouting, and ran towards it.

She found Kisshu and Taruto in a huge empty room, shouting at each other while rolling around on the floor beating each other up. "Um… guys?" she said.

They ignored her, and kept beating each other up. Ichigo got fed up and shouted, "OI!"

"WHAT!?" Kisshu and Taruto yelled.

"Pai wanted me to find you two so we can start planning," Ichigo said. "So can you stop fighting?"

Kisshu sighed. "Truce?" he asked Taruto.

"Fine…" Taruto said. "Let's go find Pai."

**Next chapter will be up soon. Till then, keep reviewing!**


	4. Planning and Attacking

**Betraying My People Chapter 4:**

**Planning and Attacking**

They found Pai still in the kitchen, eating his pancakes. "These are really good," he said.

"I'm glad you think so," Ichigo said. "I found Kisshu and Taruto, so did you want to start planning now?"

"Yes," Pai said. "Can you tell me more about the other Mews?"

"I don't know if they found the other two, but I found two Mews," Ichigo said. "There were supposed to be five of us. The two I found were Mew Mint and Mew Lettuce. Mew Mint is half bird, and Mew Lettuce is half Finless Porpoise. Mew Mint is very snobby and I personally think she's overconfident. Mew Lettuce is the exact opposite. She's extremely shy and not at all confident. And she hates fighting. She'll do it, but she thinks that we shouldn't be fighting in the first place."

"Interesting," Pai said. "Do you think it'll be easier to take Mew Lettuce down than it would be to take down Mew Mint?"

"Most likely," Ichigo said. "But if they found the other two Mews, I don't think it'll be easy. I don't know who they are, much less anything about them."

"We'll just have to take things as they come then," Pai said. "Is there anything else you know about the Mew Project?"

"Aside from the fact that the creator is an evil murderer, not much," Ichigo said. "The other Mews' weapons are designed specifically to work on Cyniclons and Chimera Animas. And they have a little fluffy pink robot that eats the Chimera Parasites." She sighed. "That was the only thing I liked about being a Mew- having the little robot. I named it Masha," Ichigo said.

"Do you think that robot would have information on the Mew Project?" Pai asked.

"Possibly," Ichigo said. "Ryou's the one who programmed it, so I would think that Masha would have at least some information on the Mew Project. What are you thinking?"

"We could get the robot, get the information out of it, and then reprogram it to think that the Mews are the enemy," Pai said. "It's got a sensor, right?"

"Yeah," Ichigo said. "Ryou originally built it to sense when one of you was nearby. If you changed the sensor, Masha could tell us when the Mews are nearby."

"Not a bad idea," Kisshu said. "Okay, let's go capture that robot."

The others nodded, and Ichigo transformed. Then Kisshu took her hand, and teleported to a park, followed by Pai and Taruto.

Pai spotted a bird, and sent a Chimera Parasite at it, turning it into a large, clawed, crow-like thing.

Not even fifteen minutes later, the other Mews showed up- with two new members. One was a small blonde child with reddish brown monkey ears and tail, and the other was a purple-haired older girl with wolf ears and tail. Mint and Lettuce stopped dead when they saw Ichigo. "ICHIGO!?" they shouted.

"Yep, what about me?" Ichigo said.

"Where have you been? And why are you with the aliens?" Mint asked.

"Why do you THINK I'm with the aliens?" Ichigo shouted. "I would never work for Ryou after what he did. So I joined the aliens, because their cause isn't just about themselves, it's about their entire race. Ryou only cares about himself, didn't you notice?"

"Um… what did Ryou do?" the blonde child asked. "He told us the aliens brainwashed you and killed your parents."

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised he told you all a bunch of lies," Ichigo said. "The aliens didn't brainwash me; I joined them after Ryou murdered my parents and tried to brainwash me into thinking that I liked working for him. I will never work for a murderer like him, and if you're smart, you won't either. If any of you decide to quit, keep a close eye on your family."

The other Mews looked shocked. "Shirogane-san wouldn't do that," Lettuce said finally.

"Look, I know you've got a crush on the guy, but if he didn't do it, then who did?" Ichigo asked. "It wasn't Kisshu or his brothers. And the last thing I heard before Ryou knocked me out was, "Say goodbye to your past." Then I woke up in the basement of Café Mew Mew, and found out that Ryou had tried to brainwash me. If he didn't kill my parents, he would have no need to brainwash me."

"We have to talk to Ryou," the purple-haired girl said.

"You're not going anywhere until you hand over your parasite-eating robot," Pai said. "Chimera Anima, ATTACK!"

The Chimera crow dived at the Mews as Ichigo jumped out of the way. Ichigo noticed Masha floating over by a tree, and snuck over as the Chimera crow continued to attack the Mews. She reached Masha, and quickly grabbed him. Masha squeaked in protest as Ichigo ran back to Kisshu and said, "Kisshu, I got Masha!"

"Good job," Kisshu said, then called, "Pai! Taruto! Ichigo got the robot, let's go!" He grabbed Ichigo's hand and teleported.

**I know, another short chapter, but to keep the action going, I need breaks. Review plz!**


	5. Masha

**Betraying My People Chapter 5:**

**Masha**

Kisshu and Ichigo landed in the main room, and Pai and Taruto teleported in soon after. "Good job Ichigo," Pai said.

"Thanks Pai," Ichigo said. "What now?"

"We find a way to extract the Mew Project data from this robot," Pai said.

Masha got out of Ichigo's grasp, and the Cyniclons tensed. "Masha miss Ichigo! Masha miss Ichigo!" Masha chirped, rubbing Ichigo's cheek.

"I missed you too," Ichigo said. "Can you give us the data from the Mew Project?"

"Masha will help Ichigo!" Masha said cheerfully.

The Cyniclons looked startled. "It's willing to help?" Pai asked.

Masha looked at him, then Ichigo. "Ichigo friend?" he asked.

"Yes, Masha, Pai is a friend," Ichigo said with a smile.

"Masha will help Ichigo friend too!" Masha said.

"This is odd," Kisshu said. "I thought that Masha was programmed to obey Ryou."

"Actually, Masha is programmed to obey me," Ichigo said. "At least, that's what Akasaka-san told me when he gave me Masha."

"Well, that makes things much easier," Pai said. "Let's go to the lab."

Ichigo nodded, and said, "Come on, Masha!" Masha landed on her shoulder, and she followed Pai to the lab.

Once there, Pai said, "I need to hook Masha to this computer to transmit the data. Is that okay?"

"Masha, will you transmit your data onto the computer?" Ichigo asked.

"Masha can, Masha can!" Masha said. He floated over to the computer, and waited patiently as Pai attached a cord to his head, then attached the other end to the computer. As the others watched, data started to stream across the screen. Finally the stream stopped, and Masha said, "Masha done!"

"Good job," Pai said. "I'll take the cords out now." He did so, and Masha floated back to Ichigo. Pai then said, "The rest of you can go, I'm going to look at the data."

"Okay," Kisshu said. He left the lab, followed by Ichigo, Taruto and Masha.

"What should we do now?" Taruto asked when they were out.

"Beats me," Kisshu said. "We could find a game to play, I guess."

"Wanna play trivia?" Ichigo asked.

"What's that?" Kisshu asked.

"I ask questions and you have to guess the answer," Ichigo said. "I have some good ones about animals. Wanna try it?"

"Sure," Kisshu said.

"Okay, my first question is: Which is the most dangerous insect?" Ichigo said.

"Uh… mosquito?" Taruto asked.

"No," Ichigo said. "Kisshu?"

Kisshu smirked. "The kissing bug," he said. "It lands on your face and sucks your blood while you're sleeping, so you don't notice."

"Show-off," Ichigo said. "Okay, what is the only land animal to have four leg joints that bend in the same direction?"

"Some kind of lizard?" Taruto asked.

"No," Ichigo said.

"An elephant," Kisshu said.

"Kisshu, you wouldn't happen to be reading my mind, would you?" Ichigo asked suspiciously.

"What would give you that idea?" Kisshu asked.

"The fact that you're not from Earth, yet seem to know the answers to a lot of Earth-related questions," Ichigo said.

"Fine, I'll stop reading your mind," Kisshu sighed.

Ichigo sighed and said, "Okay, what's an example of an animal that stays the same temperature all the time?"

"A gecko?" Kisshu asked.

"No," Ichigo said.

"A parrot?" Taruto asked.

"No."

"A tiger?" Kisshu asked.

"No."

"One of those furry gray things?" Taruto asked. "You see them in the trees a lot."

"A squirrel?" Ichigo asked.

"I think so," Taruto said.

"Yep," Ichigo said. "You get a point."

"Why don't I get points?" Kisshu asked.

"Because you were cheating," Ichigo said. "How many eyes does a tarantula have?"

"Eight," Kisshu said.

"Yes," Ichigo said. "What do you call a group of geese?"

"A gaggle?" Taruto guessed.

"Correct," Ichigo said. "Let's try something different. What do you two know about mythology?"

"Human mythology?" Kisshu asked.

"Yeah," Ichigo said.

"Not much," Taruto said. "Pai got into Greek mythology a while back though."

"Okay," Ichigo said. "Would you like to play a different game, then?"

"How about Scrabble?" Kisshu asked, as Pai came in and said, "What are you three doing?"

"Playing games, we're bored," Taruto said.

"Well, if you're bored, maybe it's a good time to clean your room," Pai said. "It looks like a tornado went through there. And Kisshu, yours isn't much better, so don't snicker like that unless you want me to tell Ichigo what you've got in there."

This, naturally, peaked Ichigo's curiousity. "What's in your room?" she asked Kisshu.

"Oh, nothing important," Kisshu said. He sounded a bit nervous.

"Then why is Pai telling you to stop snickering unless you want him to tell me what's in there?" Ichigo asked. "And why do you sound nervous?"

"No reason," Kisshu said.

"Come on, tell me," Ichigo said.

"No," Kisshu said.

"Ichigo, if you want to make him talk, tickle him," Taruto said evilly.

Ichigo was getting more curious by the second, so as Kisshu backed up, she pounced on him and started tickling him. At first she didn't get the right spots, but then she hit one place on his stomach, and he burst out laughing. "S-stop…" he said between laughs.

"Are you going to tell me what's in your room?" Ichigo asked.

"FINE!" Kisshu shouted after five more minutes of Ichigo tickling him. "I'll just show you, but stop it!"

Ichigo stopped tickling him, and got up. Kisshu led her to another door, and said, "Okay, go in."

**Next chapter, we find out what's in Kisshu's room!**


	6. Kisshu's Room

**Betraying My People Chapter 6:**

**Kisshu's Room**

"Okay, you can go in, but don't laugh at me," Kisshu said.

Ichigo went into Kisshu's room- and her jaw dropped. ALL the walls were covered in drawings and photos of her. On Kisshu's night table, she saw a photo of her in Mew Form, in a pretty frame.

Kisshu noticed that she was speechless, and said, "Well, now you know what's in my room. Can we go do something else now?"

Ichigo found her voice and said, "You're pretty obsessed with me, aren't you?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Kisshu said. "It's bad enough that I had to show you."

Ichigo was a bit surprised, but said, "Kisshu, am I really just a toy to you?"

Kisshu looked away. "No," he said softly. "You never were. I just said that because I liked it when you got riled up. You're even cuter when you're angry."

To his surprise, Ichigo blushed. "You think I'm cute?" she asked.

"Yeah," Kisshu said. "Can we change the subject now? It's making me uncomfortable."

"What do you want to talk about?" Ichigo asked.

"What's for dinner?" Kisshu asked.

Ichigo started laughing. Kisshu looked confused and said, "What's so funny?"

"That was totally random," Ichigo said. "Besides, it's nowhere near dinnertime. It's only about two in the afternoon. We could have lunch, though."

"Okay," Kisshu said. "I'm hungry."

"Let's go find something to eat," Ichigo said. Kisshu followed her to the kitchen, and watched as she looked in the fridge. She found some cheese, and asked Kisshu, "Do you want grilled cheese?"

"Sure," Kisshu said.

Ichigo smiled, and started getting two grilled cheese sandwiches ready. When they were done, she handed one to Kisshu, and sat down with the other one. "Thanks," Kisshu said, and started eating. Five minutes later, he was finished with the sandwich, and eyeing Ichigo's. She noticed, and said, "Go have some fruit if you're still hungry. This is my sandwich."

Kisshu drooped. Then it looked like he had an idea. He teleported, and Ichigo sensed him behind her. "Nice try," she said. "I know you're behind me. Besides, there's like one bite of the sandwich left."

"Aww…" Kisshu said.

"Why don't you have some fruit, it's good for you," Ichigo said, pointing to the fruit bowl.

"Isn't grilled cheese good for me?" Kisshu asked.

"Not really, it's mainly fat," Ichigo said. "That's why it tastes so good."

Kisshu sighed and randomly picked out a banana from the fruit basket. He absent-mindedly peeled it, and ate it in about two bites. Then he looked at the peel, and his eyes widened. "Something wrong?" Ichigo asked.

"I just ate a banana," Kisshu said.

"Honestly, you didn't even know what you were eating?" Ichigo asked. "What's wrong with bananas?"

"I'm allergic to them," Kisshu said glumly.

Ichigo's eyes widened. "Do you have some kind of medicine for that?" she asked.

"No," Kisshu said, as he started to turn green. Then he teleported out. Ichigo had just decided to go check on him when Pai walked in. "Is Kisshu okay?" he asked.

"He ate a banana without realizing it, and he says he's allergic to them," Ichigo said. "Then he teleported out."

"I'll go check on him," Pai said.

"I'll go too," Ichigo said. She followed Pai to the bathroom, and saw that the door was closed.

Pai knocked, but didn't get a response. "Kisshu?" he called. Still no response. Pai sighed and hesitantly opened the door. Kisshu was lying on the floor, unconscious. Pai immediately went to him and put a hand on his forehead. "He's got a pretty bad fever," Pai informed Ichigo. "I'll take him back to his room, will you keep an eye on him?"

"Sure," Ichigo said. "Should I get a bucket in case he gets sick again?"

"Good idea," Pai said. "There's one under the kitchen sink." He picked up Kisshu, and teleported out as Ichigo went to the kitchen and grabbed the bucket. She went back to Kisshu's room, and saw that Pai had put him to bed. Ichigo put the bucket next to Kisshu's bed, and pulled up a chair on the other side of the bed. Then she sat down to wait.

About two hours later, Kisshu woke up. Ichigo noticed and said, "How are you feeling?"

"Awful," Kisshu said.

"I put a bucket next to your bed," Ichigo said. "That way you won't have to teleport or run to the bathroom if you feel sick."

"Thanks," Kisshu said. "Is the bucket on the other side of the bed?"

"Yeah," Ichigo said. Kisshu turned over and dragged the bucket closer, just before he threw up again. Ichigo started rubbing his back, trying to make him feel better.

Finally he finished, and turned back to her. "Why did you have bananas in the kitchen if you're this allergic?" Ichigo asked him.

"I forgot to throw them out after the last time," Kisshu said. "I guess I should do that."

"I'll have Pai do it," Ichigo said. "You shouldn't be getting up right now. Pai said you have a bad fever."

"That would explain why I feel awful," Kisshu said glumly. "My stomach still hasn't settled down yet, either."

"Do you think you have stomach medicine? That might help," Ichigo said.

"I think so," Kisshu said. "You should ask Pai, he'd know."

"I'll go do that," Ichigo said. "Try to get some rest." She left to look for Pai.

She finally found him in the kitchen, but was distracted by the fact that whatever was on the stove was burning. "Pai, weren't you banned from the kitchen?" she asked. "What are you burning, anyways?"

"I was trying to make soup," Pai said. "It's not working out too well."

"Take it off the stove, and turn the stove off, or you'll set off the smoke alarm," Ichigo said. "And then you can tell me where to find stomach medicine for Kisshu."

Pai sighed, and turned off the stove, then looked at the pot. Ichigo came over, and looked in. "That looks absolutely disgusting," she said bluntly. "From now on, I'm doing the cooking. Unless it's something like cereal or a sandwich, no more food preparation for you."

Pai sighed again. "You said something about stomach medicine?" he asked.

"I think it'll help Kisshu," Ichigo said. "Do you have any?"

"Yeah, I'll show you," Pai said. He walked out of the kitchen and to a room near the lab. It looked like a hospital room, and had a shelf of medicine bottles on the far wall. Pai went over to the shelf, and after looking around, took one down. "Give Kisshu a spoonful of this," he told Ichigo. "I'll go clean up the mess I made in the kitchen."

"Okay," Ichigo said. She took the bottle, and Pai handed her a spoon. Then she walked back to Kisshu's room.

When she got there, Kisshu was asleep, but he didn't look too good. His cheeks were flushed, and he was tossing and turning in his sleep. Suddenly his eyes shot open, but before Ichigo could say anything, he turned over and threw up again. When he was finished, Ichigo said, "Kisshu, Pai said you need a spoonful of this, okay?"

"Okay," Kisshu said. Ichigo poured some medicine onto the spoon, and held it out to Kisshu, who swallowed it. "That stuff is gross," he said.

"Well, if it helps, it'll be worth it, right?" Ichigo said.

"Yeah.." Kisshu said. He sounded tired, so Ichigo said, "Go back to sleep, I'll be here."

"Thanks…." Kisshu said, as he fell back to sleep.

**I KNOW I'm horrible. Don't flame me for it. I just like fluff, and this seems to be my way of getting it in. Review!**


	7. Recovery and Planning

**Betraying My People Chapter 7:**

**Recovery and Planning**

By nighttime, Kisshu said his stomach was feeling better, but he still had a fever. Ichigo put a cold cloth on his forehead, because Pai said that they couldn't mix the stomach medicine with the fever medicine.

Ichigo was about to leave for the night when she heard Kisshu say softly, "Can you sleep in here?"

She turned back, and saw Kisshu looking at her almost pleadingly. "Fine, but I'm sleeping on the floor," she said.

Kisshu sighed, but said, "Thanks, Koneko-chan."

Ichigo went and got her blankets and pillow, then took them back to Kisshu's room, and laid them out. Noticing that Kisshu was asleep, she curled up and went to sleep herself. And as she slept, she began dreaming.

_**Ichigo's dream: **__It started out normally. She was waking up in her room. It was a weekend, so she slept in. She got up, but before she could start getting dressed, she heard her mother scream. Ichigo ran downstairs, and saw Ryou standing over her parents, a bloody knife in his hand. Both her parents were dead. Ryou smirked and said, "You deserved it for quitting." Ichigo fell to her knees in shock, as Ryou disappeared. Then Ichigo began sobbing._

_**-End dream-**_

Ichigo woke up with a gasp. It took her a minute to remember where she was, but then she saw Kisshu, who was still sleeping. Ichigo realized her cheeks were wet with tears, and quickly wiped her face. She still felt scared, and she looked over at Kisshu again. He was sleeping peacefully, and Ichigo started to wonder if sleeping with him might be better than sleeping alone. She didn't want to have the nightmare again. Making her decision, she got up and quietly went over to the bed, then gently curled up next to Kisshu. Then she fell back to sleep.

The next morning, Kisshu woke up feeling a lot better. He stretched- and his arm hit something. Confused, he looked next to him- and saw Ichigo sleeping next to him. His face lit up, until he noticed her face was tearstained. He started stroking her hair, and was surprised when she started purring. Then he noticed she was starting to wake up. "Koneko-chan?" he asked softly.

Ichigo opened her eyes, and said, "Kisshu?"

"Yeah," Kisshu said. "Are you okay?"

"I was dreaming that I saw Ryou kill my parents, and when he saw me, he said, "You deserved it for quitting." Then I climbed in with you, because I was scared," Ichigo said. She sounded sad. "Do you think if I hadn't quit, Ryou wouldn't have killed my parents?"

Kisshu took her in his arms and said, "You didn't cause their deaths. Ryou's evil, he might have done it anyways. Don't think that it's your fault your parents died. It's Ryou's fault, not yours." He felt Ichigo shaking in his arms, and looked down to see that she was crying silently. "I guess it finally sunk in, huh?" he asked her.

Ichigo nodded. Kisshu held her tightly, and said, "Don't worry, I'm here for you."

Ichigo gradually stopped crying, and said, "Thanks, Kisshu."

Kisshu smiled at her. "We should get ready," he said. "Otherwise Pai will come bang on the door."

Ichigo giggled. "Okay," she said. "I'll go get dressed. Meet me in the kitchen?"

"Sure," Kisshu said.

Ichigo left, and started getting ready. She took a quick shower, and did her hair, then walked to the kitchen. Kisshu was already there, and he was making something. Ichigo sniffed the air, and realized he was cooking bacon. "That smells good," Ichigo said.

"Thanks, I thought it would be nice if I cooked for a change," Kisshu said. "The bacon's almost done."

"Do you want me to make toast?" Ichigo asked.

"Way ahead of you," Kisshu said, pointing to the toaster, where there were four pieces of toast waiting.

"Thanks Kisshu," Ichigo said.

"Welcome," Kisshu said. "The bacon's done."

Ichigo smiled and got two plates, then put one aside for Kisshu, and took the other to the toaster. "Are we saving some for Pai and Taruto?" she asked.

"No, they can make their own," Kisshu said. "Even Pai can't go too wrong with toast."

"Okay," Ichigo said. She took two pieces of toast, and got a few slices of bacon. Kisshu did the same, and they sat down at the table and started eating.

A few minutes later, Taruto teleported in and said, "What'd you make this time, Ichigo?"

"Kisshu made bacon and toast," Ichigo said. "There's still some bacon if you want it."

Taruto floated over to the stove, and grabbed a few pieces of bacon. He was about to take a bite of one when Ichigo said, "Taruto, don't you have any table manners? Get a plate and sit down with that."

"Make me," Taruto said with a smirk.

"Who taught you manners?" Ichigo asked.

"My mom, but I didn't really care," Taruto said. "So, are you going to make me sit down to eat?"

"No, but don't blame me if you choke," Ichigo said.

Taruto grinned and stuck all the bacon he took into his mouth at once. Luckily he had only taken three pieces, but he still started coughing.

"I warned you," Ichigo said. Taruto managed to swallow and glared at her. "What? You should know better than to stuff that much food in your mouth at once anyways," Ichigo said. "Honestly, you eat like a pig sometimes."

Kisshu started laughing. Taruto glared at him and said, "You're not much better!"

"Actually, Kisshu actually chews his food," Ichigo said. "You're the disgusting eater around here."

"What if it's traditional for me to eat like that?" Taruto said.

"Then why don't Kisshu and Pai eat like that?" Ichigo asked. "Besides, I think that any reasonably civilized culture would at the very least chew their food. It's hazardous to eat without chewing."

"So I'm uncivilized?" Taruto asked.

"Pretty much," Kisshu said. "At least the rest of us have table manners. Ichigo's right, you eat like an animal."

"Grr.." Taruto said. Then he muttered something that sounded a lot like, "Stupid old hag…"

"Insulting the cook isn't a good idea," Ichigo told him. "I'm in control of what you eat, so unless you want to eat broccoli while the rest of us are having pancakes, I suggest you don't call me an 'old hag'."

"I HATE BROCCOLI!" Taruto screamed. "I won't call you an old hag! Just don't ever bring broccoli into the kitchen!"

"Fine…" Ichigo said.

Pai came in a minute later, and said, "I heard screaming, is everything okay?"

"Taruto's scared of broccoli," Ichigo said. "I told him if he started calling me an 'old hag', he'd be eating nothing but broccoli."

"Why would Taruto call you an old hag?" Pai asked.

"We were telling him he ate like an animal," Kisshu said.

"That's true," Pai said. "Taruto, you really should change your rather disgusting eating habits."

Taruto growled and teleported out. Pai sighed and said, "Kisshu, are you feeling better?"

"Yeah, I'm feeling a lot better," Kisshu said. "I think my fever's gone, too."

Pai came over and felt his forehead, and said, "Yep, your fever's gone. Good timing, while you were sick, Deep Blue-sama informed me that we should attack the Mews soon. I told him we'd do it when you were better."

"Okay, what's the plan?" Kisshu asked.

"We're going to attack that pink building," Pai said. "I think we should do some scouting first, though. Ichigo, what time is that place open?"

"Three in the afternoon," Ichigo replied. "And it closes at seven, but the other Mews usually stay to do clean up afterwards."

"Let's go when they close," Pai said. "It'll give us a better chance of getting rid of them if there aren't a lot of others to get rid of."

"That's provided they're still there," Ichigo said. "I did tell them that Ryou killed my parents. If he confessed, or they found out the truth, the Mews might not be a problem anymore."

"Well, we'll have to see," Pai said. "Let's go there tonight, and see what we find."

"Okay," Kisshu and Ichigo said.

**I might not post again tonight, but I'm not sure yet. Plz review!**


	8. Shock

**Betraying My People Chapter 8:**

**Shock**

That night, Kisshu, Pai and Taruto teleported with Ichigo to Café Mew Mew. They had brought Masha, and told him to stay quiet unless the Mews were coming. They snuck up to the Café, and looked in the window. It looked like the other Mews were having a meeting. Ryou was there too, as was Keiichiro. The window was slightly open, so Ichigo and the Cyniclons could hear what was being said.

"You're sure that's what Ichigo said?" Keiichiro asked.

"Hai," Mint said. "She claims that Ryou killed her parents and tried to brainwash her, and that she woke up in the basement of Café Mew Mew after she had been knocked out."

"Ryou, did you do anything to Ichigo after she quit?" Keiichiro said. "I was out shopping that night, so I wouldn't know."

"You seriously believe I would kill Ichigo's parents?" Ryou asked.

"You seemed pretty upset after Ichigo left," Mint said. "And she says the aliens didn't do it."

"I told you, they brainwashed her," Ryou said.

"Then why did she remember Mint and Lettuce?" the purple-haired girl asked. "Surely if they were the ones who brainwashed her, they would have taken all her memories, not just some."

"Maybe their machine doesn't work very well," Ryou said.

"Zakuro has a point, though," Keiichiro said. "If the machine didn't work the first time, wouldn't they have done something about that?"

"How should I know?" Ryou said exasperatedly. "I'm not the one who tried to brainwash her!"

"Pudding thinks Ryou is lying, na no da," the little blonde girl said. "If you didn't try to brainwash her, than what is that machine doing in the basement, na no da?"

"What machine?" Ryou asked.

"The one that looks like a hat, na no da," Pudding said.

"I have no clue what you're talking about, Pudding," Ryou said. "Shouldn't we go back to the original topic of this meeting?"

"We should not," Zakuro said. "We can worry about that after we find out the truth. I agree with Pudding, you're hiding something, Ryou."

"Pudding, where is the machine?" Lettuce asked.

"I'll go get it, na no da!" Pudding said. She hopped up and ran off. A few minutes later she came back with a machine that looked like a metal hat with wires coming out of it. "See, na no da?" she said.

The others looked suspiciously at Ryou. "Why do you have that if you didn't try to brainwash Ichigo?" Zakuro asked.

"I don't know why that was in the basement," Ryou said. "I bet the aliens left it there to make it look like I'm the bad guy."

Ichigo and the Cyniclons ducked down below the window. "He's going to tell them lies until they actually believe him," Ichigo whispered. "I think we should just go in and kill him."

"Might be a good plan," Kisshu whispered. "We should tell the Mews that we didn't kill your parents, though. Zakuro seems to be able to see who's telling the truth and who's lying. If we convince her, the others might be convinced too."

"Let's go, then," Pai whispered. Kisshu took Ichigo's hand, and they all teleported into the Café.

The Mews, Ryou and Keiichiro looked up, shocked. "What are you doing here?" Ryou snarled.

"I'm here to avenge my parents," Ichigo said. "No matter how many lies you tell, you are still the one who killed them."

"NO, I'm not," Ryou said. "The aliens did it."

"You're still lying about that?" Kisshu asked. "I would never hurt Ichigo in that way, and Pai and Taruto came after YOU killed them."

"We wouldn't kill Ichigo's parents either," Taruto said. "We were taught that the enemy's family had nothing to do with the battle we fought. Besides, Ichigo joined us."

"She only joined you because you brainwashed her," Ryou said.

"Why don't you just tell the truth, Ryou?" Ichigo asked. "You're going to die tonight anyways, so why not tell everyone what you did?"

"Because I didn't do anything!" Ryou shouted.

"I know a way to find out the truth," Pai said. Before anyone could reply, Pai teleported directly in front of Ryou, and put one finger on his forehead, using the other hand to hold him down. Suddenly, an image, like a hologram, appeared above Ryou's head.

The others watched in silence as the image progressed. Ryou entered Ichigo's house, and pressed a cloth over Ichigo's face. She fell to the ground as Ryou took out a knife. Ichigo's parents came into the living room, and Ryou lunged at them. He stabbed Shintaro first, then as Shintaro collapsed, he stabbed Sakura. He left the room as she collapsed as well. Then he went to the front door, picked up the still-unconscious Ichigo, and went to a car.

Suddenly the image flickered. "Pai, stop!" Kisshu said. "You'll drain yourself!"

Pai took his finger away, then pushed Ryou and teleported back to Kisshu, Ichigo and Taruto. "That is what happened the night Ichigo joined Kisshu," Pai said.

Ichigo was standing still, shocked. She had known from the start that Ryou was the one who murdered her parents, but seeing it like that shook her.

She wasn't the only one. Keiichiro looked even more shocked than Ichigo. Pudding was actually crying, Mint looked furious, Lettuce looked scared, and even Zakuro was looking shocked.

Taruto and Kisshu weren't much better. Taruto was shaking and Kisshu looked horrified. Pai looked shaken as well.

Zakuro was the first to snap out of it, and she knelt next to Pudding, then hugged her. Pudding buried her face in Zakuro's shoulder, her shoulders shaking. "What if he goes after my siblings too?" Pudding asked in a whisper.

Ichigo snapped out of her shock at that and said, "He won't. Because I'm going to kill him, here and now." She turned to the other Mews, and said, "Leave. Take Pudding home, and I'll handle this."

"Hai," Zakuro said. She picked up Pudding, and the other girls followed her out the door. Ichigo waited until they were gone, then said, "Keiichiro, if you want to leave, go ahead."

"I'm going upstairs," Keiichiro said. "Ryou, I hope you know that none of us will ever forgive you for this, and that you actually deserve whatever Ichigo does to you." He left, and Ichigo shouted, "Strawberry Blade!" Her sword appeared in her hand, and she lunged forward, stabbing Ryou through the heart as she yelled, "Ribon… Strawberry Flash!"

Ryou had time for one last scream before the pink flames consumed his body. A pile of ash fell to the ground; the only thing left of him.

Ichigo sighed and turned back to the Cyniclons, letting her sword disappear.

"Are you okay?" Kisshu asked her.

"I don't think I'll ever be okay," Ichigo said. "But at least we're all safe from that bastard."

"Good," Pai said. "But what do we do now? I'm not sure that it's really worth fighting anymore."

"But what about our people?" Taruto asked.

"What about Mew Aqua?" Kisshu suggested.

"What's that?" Ichigo asked.

"It's water in its purest form, with the ability to heal anything," Pai said. "Kisshu, you've got a point. If we found enough Mew Aqua, we could use it on our planet. Now we have to convince Deep Blue."

"Do you think we should check on the other Mews, and let them know Ryou's dead?" Taruto asked. "That Pudding girl seemed pretty scared."

"Might be a good idea," Ichigo said. "Should we tell them about your idea, Pai?"

"Let's wait a bit," Pai said. "We should talk to Deep Blue first."

"Okay," the others said.

"Do we know where Pudding lives?" Kisshu asked.

"No," Ichigo said. "I could ask Keiichiro."

"Let's all go," Pai said.

Ichigo led the way upstairs, and knocked on a door. "Yes?" she heard.

"Keiichiro, I killed Ryou," Ichigo said. "We wanted to let the others know it's safe, so can you tell us where she lives?"

"I'll go with you," Keiichiro said, opening the door. "I'm sorry I didn't keep a closer eye on Ryou, Ichigo."

Ichigo sighed. "It's not your fault," she said.

Keiichiro sighed too, and said, "I still feel responsible. I took care of Ryou after his parents were killed by a Chimera Anima, and if I had done a better job, maybe this wouldn't have happened."

"Like I said, don't blame yourself," Ichigo said. "Some people just don't turn out well, even with the best of people raising them."

"What will you do now that Ryou's dead?" Keiichiro asked. "I'm willing to take you in, but that might not be what you want."

"It isn't," Ichigo said. "I like living with the Cyniclons, and I've realized something recently. I don't think I could live without having Kisshu around."

"This from the girl who said, "That jerk stole my first kiss!"?" Kisshu asked with a grin.

"Something like that," Ichigo said. "You've been wonderful to me, and I realized that I really love you, Kisshu."

Kisshu grinned and wrapped his arms around her waist, then kissed her. Ichigo kissed back, winding her arms around his neck.

Finally they broke apart, and Ichigo said, "That was much better than the first time."

"Aren't we supposed to be going to Pudding's?" Taruto asked.

"Yeah, we just got a bit carried away," Kisshu said. "You're a good kisser, Koneko-chan."

"So are you," Ichigo said, blushing. "Should we get going?"

"Yeah, I'll take you there," Keiichiro said. He looked at the Cyniclons, and said, "Maybe we should go in my car. I think you'll attract attention if we walk."

"What's a car?" Taruto asked.

"I'll show you," Keiichiro said with a smile. He led the way outside, and to a car parked behind the Café.

Taruto looked at it, and said, "This looks heavy. Does it move?"

"It has an engine, so yes, it moves," Keiichiro said. "Get in, I'll show you."

They all piled into the car, Pai in the front seat. Keiichiro started it up, and Taruto and Kisshu jumped a bit. They got even more nervous when the car started moving. "It's not going to kill you," Ichigo told them. Pai wasn't showing any emotion, so she figured he wasn't too nervous. She was proven correct when he said, "You didn't get nervous when the spaceship took off, did you?"

"No, but that was flying," Kisshu said. "Less chance of hitting something."

"Except asteroids," Pai said. "Relax, you'll be fine. We're teleporting home anyways."

Five minutes later, Keiichiro announced, "We're here!"

They all got out, and went up to Pudding's door. It was answered by Zakuro, who said, "What's up?"

"Ryou is dead," Ichigo said. "We thought we'd come let you know, since everyone was so upset. How's Pudding?"

"She and her siblings are currently attached to Lettuce," Zakuro said. "Maybe you should come in."

Ichigo, Keiichiro, and the Cyniclons followed Zakuro in. Before they went in, Zakuro said, "Don't mention parents to Pudding, she's still pretty shook up, and she told me her mom's dead, and her dad is currently abroad. Don't say anything about parents, okay?"

"Okay," Ichigo said. Zakuro nodded and led them to the living room.

Lettuce and Mint were sitting on the sofa. Pudding, four little boys, and a little girl were clinging to them. Zakuro went in first and said, "Pudding, we've got guests."

Pudding looked over and said, "Hi…"

"Are you okay, Pudding?" Ichigo asked.

"Pudding got scared…" Pudding said. "Pudding didn't know Ryou was evil."

"Ryou's gone now, so you don't have to be scared," Ichigo said.

Pudding looked at Ichigo. Then she slowly let go of Lettuce's arm, and slid off the sofa, then walked to Ichigo. "Why don't you live with humans?" she asked.

"Because I have no family, and I love Kisshu," Ichigo said.

"Even though he has elf ears?" Pudding asked.

"PUDDING!" Lettuce said, horrified. "Be polite!"

Kisshu looked confused. "What's an elf?" he asked.

"A little mythical creature with pointy ears, but they're supposed to be really small," Ichigo said. She turned back to Pudding, and said, "I'd love Kisshu whether he had pointy ears or not, but I think they're kawaii."

"You do?" Kisshu asked.

"Yep," Ichigo said.

Pudding looked at Ichigo, then said, "Pudding wants to play with Kisshu-oniichan's ears, na no da!"

Kisshu promptly tried to hide behind Ichigo. Ichigo sighed and said, "No playing with other people's ears. It's not polite."

Pudding drooped. Zakuro noticed and said, "Pudding, shouldn't you be putting your siblings to bed? It's getting late."

"Okay!" Pudding said, going back to being cheerful. "Hanacha, Chancha, Lucha, Honcha, Heicha, bedtime!"

The four little boys and the little girl hopped off Lettuce and Mint's laps, and ran off to get ready for bed. Pudding looked around, and said, "Thanks for helping me, minna."

"You're welcome, Pudding-chan," Zakuro said. "Do you want one or more of us here tonight?"

"Can you stay?" Pudding asked.

"Of course," Zakuro said.

"Thanks," Pudding said. "Ichigo-oneechan, it was nice to see you."

"Thanks Pudding-chan," Ichigo said. Then she turned to Kisshu, and said, "Should we get going?"

"Yeah, we should get some sleep," Kisshu said. He took her hand, and she waved to the others. Then they teleported out.

When they got back to the ship, Ichigo asked, "Can I sleep with you tonight?"

"Sure, Koneko-chan," Kisshu said. "You don't want to be alone, right?"

"Yeah," Ichigo said. "I miss my parents, and tonight really didn't help. At least I killed Ryou."

"Yeah," Kisshu said. "Now we're all safe from him. Let's get ready for bed."

"K…" Ichigo said tiredly.

They both got ready, and then curled up together on Kisshu's bed.

**I hope you all like my longer-than-usual chapter. I might not be posting till tomorrow, but we'll see. Review!**


	9. Purring

**Betraying My People Chapter 9:**

**Purring**

The next morning Ichigo was just finishing baking chocolate chip muffins when Kisshu ran in and said, "Deep Blue summoned us, come on!"

Ichigo took off the oven mitts she was wearing, and Kisshu took her hand and teleported to the misty blue dimension. Pai and Taruto teleported in at the same time, and they all went down on one knee and bowed their heads.

"I know you were with the Mews last night," Deep Blue's voice said. "Would you care to explain yourselves?" He sounded stern.

"We had an idea," Pai said. "If we gathered the Mew Aqua, we wouldn't need to spend our time trying to eliminate billions of humans; we could restore our planet with the Mew Aqua."

Deep Blue sounded angry as he said, "The humans are evil, and you want to leave them alive? I thought you were loyal to me."

"We are, we just think this is a better plan than wanton killing," Kisshu said. "Does it really make sense to wipe out an entire race when there's another solution?"

"You were told to follow my orders, and I say we go ahead with killing all humans," Deep Blue said. "How else will we regain this planet?"

"But we're saying we can save the planet we live on," Taruto said. "Besides, Earth is too polluted for our race to live here comfortably."

"NO!" Deep Blue shouted.

Kisshu, meanwhile, was thinking, and he said, "Did you ever intend to help us? Or were you just using us to obtain the Earth for yourself?"

Instead of replying to the question, Deep Blue said, "If you won't help me, I'll control that boy on my own." Then he disappeared, as did the blue mist.

Ichigo and the Cyniclons looked at each other. "Well, if he's doesn't need us, then we can go with the Mew Aqua plan," Pai said. "Still, it surprises me that he was using us."

"Why?" Kisshu asked. "Those in power are often corrupt. And I'm sure being worshipped like a god made him think he could use us and not suffer any consequences."

"What's the next step?" Ichigo asked.

"I guess we go talk to the other Mews and figure out a plan," Pai said.

"Can we have breakfast first?" Taruto asked.

The others laughed, and Ichigo said, "Sure."

They all went to the kitchen and ate Ichigo's chocolate chip muffins, and then cleaned up. When Pai and Taruto had left, Kisshu said, "So, what do you want to do now, Koneko-chan?"

"Beats me," Ichigo replied. "What about you?"

Kisshu immediately got a very perverted smirk on his face. Ichigo got nervous and said, "I'm going to regret saying that, aren't I?"

"What would give you that idea?" Kisshu asked.

"The look on your face, that's what," Ichigo said.

Kisshu's smirk widened, and he teleported. Ichigo suddenly got grabbed from behind, and shrieked, "NYA!" Her ears and tail came out too.

Kisshu chuckled from behind her. "Your cat ears are so cute," he said. Then he started rubbing one. Ichigo purred and leaned into his hand. "You like that?" he asked.

"Yeah…" Ichigo said. She sounded sleepy, and Kisshu said, "Are you okay? You sound tired."

"That sensation is putting me to sleep," Ichigo said. "But I like it."

Kisshu smiled and continued petting her ears. He noticed she was falling asleep, so he teleported to his room, and put her on the bed. She curled up like a cat and fell asleep purring. Kisshu continued petting her ears until he fell asleep watching Ichigo. Something about her purring was very soothing.

Ichigo woke up about two hours later, and noticed Kisshu was asleep next to her. She smiled softly. Kisshu looked really cute sleeping. She gently put a hand on his cheek- and her smile faded. Kisshu's skin was very hot. _That's odd, _she thought. _He was fine a couple of hours ago. Why does he have a fever?_

Then she noticed Kisshu was starting to wake up. He looked up at her, and said, "I don't feel good…."

"You've got a pretty high fever," Ichigo said. "I think you came down with something."

"That quickly?" Kisshu asked.

"I know, it's strange," Ichigo said. "I'll go get Pai, he has fever medicine."

"Okay," Kisshu said.

Ichigo left and ran to the lab. She knocked on the closed door, and Pai opened it. "What's up?" he asked.

"I think Kisshu's come down with something," Ichigo said. "He's got a pretty high fever, and says he doesn't feel good."

"I'll get the medicine, you go back to him," Pai said.

Ichigo nodded and ran back to Kisshu's room. He looked up at her, and she said, "Pai's getting the medicine."

"I'm cold," Kisshu said. He was already under the blankets, but he was still shivering.

Ichigo was about to say something, but then Pai came in, and said, "I brought the medicine. And more blankets." He handed a stack of blankets to Ichigo, who spread them all over Kisshu. Pai put a hand on Kisshu's forehead, and his eyes widened. "I'd better give you two spoonfuls," he said. "Your temperature really shot up." He got the medicine and a spoon, and said, "Okay, open up." Kisshu obeyed, and Pai gave him two spoonfuls of the fever medicine.

"That stuff is disgusting," Kisshu said.

"I know, but you need it," Pai said. "And you might need more later today. You've got a really high fever this time. You should try to get some sleep, okay?"

"Fine…" Kisshu said. "Koneko-chan, will you be here?"

"Of course, if that's what you want," Ichigo said.

"Thanks," Kisshu said. He slowly fell asleep after that.

Ichigo was about to sit back down, when she saw Pai beckoning to her from the doorway. She went to him, and he said softly, "Come get me if anything happens. I don't think this is a normal illness, so I need you to keep an eye on Kisshu, okay?"

"Got it," Ichigo said. "I'll stay with him. Can you get the sleeping bag out of my room? I'll sleep on the floor in here."

"Sure," Pai said. "I'll be back."

He came back a while later, and handed the sleeping bag to Ichigo. "Thanks," Ichigo said. "I'll let you know if he gets worse."

Pai nodded and left.

**Okay, I'm too tired to continue tonight, so I'll work on this tomorrow. For fans of my story Kisshu's Illness, this might seem a bit familiar. For the rest of you- please don't flame me. But you can review!**


	10. This is a Problem

**Betraying My People Chapter 10:**

**This is a Problem….**

Kisshu woke up that night, while Ichigo was out. Pai was in there instead, and he asked, "Kisshu, how are you feeling?"

"Awful," Kisshu said in a weak voice. "I feel really weak." He started coughing. When he got his breath back, he said, "I'm still cold, too."

Pai felt his forehead, and his eyes widened. "Your fever went back up," he said. "I'm getting more of the medicine. Try to stay awake till I get back, okay?"

"Okay," Kisshu said.

Pai teleported out, and got the medicine and a spoon, then went back and gave Kisshu a spoonful of it. "Are you hungry?" Pai asked.

"No," Kisshu said. "Where's Ichigo?"

"She was making dinner," Pai said. "Do you want me to get her?"

"Yeah…." Kisshu said.

Pai teleported out, and Ichigo came in a few minutes later. She had a bowl of soup with her, and she said, "Kisshu, you should have some of this."

"I'm not hungry," Kisshu said.

"Do you feel sick?" Ichigo asked.

"No, I'm just not hungry," Kisshu replied. "I'm tired…"

Ichigo sighed and put the soup on Kisshu's desk, and said, "Get some rest, then. I'll be right here."

Kisshu fell asleep almost immediately. Ichigo noticed his cheeks were flushed again, and got a cold cloth, then put it over Kisshu's forehead.

Pai came in a while later, and asked, "How is he?"

"He's still got a really high fever," Ichigo replied. "And he says he has no appetite. I'm worried, he came down with this really quickly."

"You're right," Pai said. "I wonder if Deep Blue has something to do with this."

"Why do you think that?" Ichigo asked.

"Kisshu got sick right after we talked to Deep Blue," Pai replied. "And Kisshu's the leader of this mission, not to mention he's the best warrior on our planet. If Deep Blue wants us out of the way, he'd have to take down Kisshu first."

Ichigo looked scared. "If Deep Blue is behind this, does that mean there's no way to cure Kisshu?" she asked. "If he caused this, he could do it again, even if we figure out how to cure Kisshu."

Pai looked worried. "You have a point," he said. "We may have to get rid of Deep Blue to help Kisshu."

"I wonder what he meant when he said, "I'll control that boy by myself", Ichigo said.

"Deep Blue has a human host in your world," Pai explained. "I wonder if I can find out who it is?"

"You'd better get on that," Ichigo said. "Kisshu's life may depend on it."

"I'll go start that," Pai said. "Stay in here, I'll keep you posted."

"Got it," Ichigo said. Pai teleported out to start research. It was getting late, so Ichigo decided to go to sleep. She checked on Kisshu, and saw that he was still sleeping. Then she got in her sleeping bag and went to sleep.

The next morning, she woke up suddenly, because Kisshu was coughing. She got up and went over to him, then pulled him into a sitting position. Kisshu slowly stopped coughing, but he was gasping for air.

When it looked like his breathing was back to normal, Ichigo started to lay him back down, but noticed his breathing became harsher when she did. "Koneko-chan, I really don't feel good," Kisshu said. "I can't breathe."

Ichigo looked worried. "Should I get Pai?" she asked.

"No, I want you to stay here," Kisshu said. "I don't want to be alone."

Ichigo was worried, but said, "Okay, I'll stay. Do you need help sitting up?"

"I think so," Kisshu said. "Sorry."

"It's not your fault," Ichigo said. "I'll be able to support you better if I'm sitting behind you, okay?"

"K," Kisshu said.

Ichigo climbed onto the bed, and leaning against the headboard, she rested Kisshu's head in her lap.

Pai came in a few minutes later, and saw them. Ichigo looked up at him and said, "Kisshu can't breathe lying down, so I'm supporting him."

"Kisshu, you can't breathe?" Pai asked, worried.

"Not too well," Kisshu said.

Pai came over and put a hand on Kisshu's forehead. "You need more medicine," he said. "Your fever just isn't going away."

Kisshu started coughing again, and when he stopped, he was gasping for air. He finally got his breath back, but suddenly passed out. Pai immediately put a hand on his forehead, then yanked it off. "This is getting bad," he said grimly. "His temperature just shot up again. I don't think the medicine can help him anymore."

Ichigo looked scared. "What do we do? If we can't bring his fever down, he could…" she trailed off.

"I know," Pai said. "And I don't know what to do either."

Before Ichigo could say anything, Kisshu started gasping for air again. Ichigo was really scared now. She put a hand on Kisshu's cheek, and noticed that his skin was cooler. She looked at Pai, and said, "His skin is cooler now. Is that good or bad?"

Pai's eyes widened. "That's bad," he whispered. "At this rate…" he trailed off.

Ichigo caught Pai's meaning instantly. _This can't be happening… _she thought. _No…no… _"NO!" she screamed, and was instantly enveloped in pink light.

Pai watched in awe as the pink light surrounded Ichigo. Then the pink light started to flow into Kisshu, and he began to glow as well. Pai noticed Kisshu's labored breathing was starting to even out.

Finally the light show faded, and Pai came over. Kisshu was starting to wake up. Ichigo noticed, and said, "Kisshu, how are you feeling?"

"I think I'm feeling better," Kisshu said. "A minute ago I felt like my whole body was going numb, but that feeling's gone."

Ichigo and Pai both heaved sighs of relief. "Thank goodness," Pai said. "We thought you were about to die."

"Is that why I felt numb?" Kisshu asked. "What happened, anyways?"

"Ichigo noticed your skin was going cold, and we both thought you were going to die," Pai replied. "Then she was surrounded by pink light, and the light flowed into you."

"Ichigo, you can heal?" Kisshu asked.

"I guess so," Ichigo said.

"Thanks for saving me," Kisshu said.

"I'm just glad you didn't die," Ichigo said. "I think you need more time to recover, though. That was pretty serious."

"I think you're right," Kisshu admitted. "I still feel really weak. I don't think I can sit up. But I can breathe again. Is my fever gone?"

Ichigo put a hand on his forehead, and said, "Yeah, it feels like it. I think you need to take it easy, though. I wasn't able to completely heal you."

"K," Kisshu said. "Can I have something to eat? I'm hungry."

"I'll go heat up some soup," Pai said. "You shouldn't eat anything too heavy right away."

"Okay," Kisshu said.

Pai teleported out and came back a few minutes later with a bowl of soup. Ichigo had moved to a chair next to Kisshu's bed, and Pai handed her the bowl. "Kisshu, open up," she said, spooning up some soup.

Kisshu obeyed, and Ichigo started feeding him the soup. When he finished the bowl, Ichigo set it aside, and said, "You should go to sleep, you really need to rest."

Kisshu sighed, and Ichigo smoothed his bangs back. "I'll be right here," she said. "Don't worry, you'll recover."

"Alright," Kisshu said, settling down. He was asleep in minutes.

Pai beckoned to Ichigo, who went over. "You'll stay?" he asked her.

"Yeah, after that, he needs someone 24/7," Ichigo said.

"What if you need to sleep?" Pai asked.

"I'll just sleep with him," Ichigo said. "He seems to like it when I do that."

Pai nodded. "Come get me if you need me, but I'll be in and out," he said.

"Will do," Ichigo said. Pai nodded and teleported out.

Kisshu woke up later that day, and said, "I'm kind of hot, can you take some of the blankets off?"

"Sure," Ichigo said. She hesitated, then said, "You don't mind if I sleep with you, do you?"

"Not at all, I love it when you do that," Kisshu said.

Ichigo smiled and took some of the blankets off. "That's better," Kisshu said. "Thanks, Koneko-chan."

"Sure Kisshu," Ichigo said. She smoothed the remainder of the blankets out, and said, "Try to get some more rest, it's the only way you'll recover."

"I'm not really tired," Kisshu said.

"Do you want me to find a book?" Ichigo asked.

"Can we play a game?" Kisshu asked.

"I'm not sure that's a good idea," Ichigo said reluctantly. "Pai said that you shouldn't get excited or worked up right now. It could be bad for you."

Kisshu sighed. "What books do you have?" he asked.

"The Beasts of Clawstone Castle is a good one," Ichigo said. "I brought it in here while you were sleeping."

"Okay," Kisshu said.

Ichigo picked up the book, which was lying on her sleeping bag, and opened it to the first page. Then she started reading aloud.

Eventually Kisshu got tired, and he said, "Can we stop?"

"Sure, it's nighttime anyways," Ichigo said. "Can I sleep with you?"

"Sure," Kisshu said. He scooted over, and Ichigo climbed in next to him. They curled up together, and slowly fell asleep.

Over the course of the next two weeks, Ichigo stayed with Kisshu all the time. Since she had brought him back from the brink of death, he had been getting slowly stronger. It still took a long time for him to start recovering, though. It wasn't until halfway through the week after Ichigo healed Kisshu that he could sit up, and it took another week before he could stand. Although he was able to walk soon after, he still got tired out very easily. Pai told him to stay close to or in his room at all times, since he had a tendency to get tired out walking, and then needed help getting back to his room.

Strangely, but luckily, they hadn't seen or heard from Deep Blue at all since Kisshu had gotten sick. Pai was still doing research on Deep Blue's human host, while Ichigo was helping Kisshu, who wasn't happy with how slowly he was recovering. Ichigo understood he was frustrated, having to take everything slowly, when he was used to being active.

About a month later, Kisshu was almost back to full strength. He only got tired teleporting, but he could fly again. The teleporting thing bugged him, and he was talking to Ichigo about it one day. "I really miss being able to teleport," he told her. "I wish this problem would go away."

"It will soon," Ichigo said. "You nearly died, it's going to be a while before you can really say you're back to full strength. I know you're frustrated, but you'll get through this."

"It's been a MONTH," Kisshu said.

"Just be grateful you're actually alive," Ichigo said. "If I hadn't gotten so scared and discovered a new power, you'd be dead right now. I think the weakness is a pretty small price to pay for still being alive."

Kisshu looked at her, and said, "You're right. I'm sorry, it's just hard to have to take everything slowly."

"I know," Ichigo said. "And I don't blame you for being frustrated."

"Thanks, Koneko-chan," Kisshu said. "Can we get something to eat?"

"Sure," Ichigo said, smiling.

They went to the kitchen, where to their surprise, they found Keiichiro, as well as Pai and Taruto. Pai looked like he was sulking.

"What's going on?" Ichigo asked.

"Taruto came to find me and told me that Pai is a disaster in the kitchen, then grabbed me and teleported here," Keiichiro said. "Is there a reason you can't cook for them?"

"I've been with Kisshu," Ichigo said.

"It's been a MONTH since that happened," Taruto complained.

"That's what Kisshu said," Ichigo said.

"What did happen?" Keiichiro asked.

"Deep Blue somehow got Kisshu sick, and he nearly died," Ichigo said. "I discovered a new power to heal just in time, but that experience left Kisshu very weak, and I felt that I needed to stay with him until he was back to full strength."

"Kisshu, are you okay?" Keiichiro asked, sounding worried.

"Aside from not being able to teleport without collapsing, yes," Kisshu said. "The teleporting problem is annoying, though."

"Well, at least you're alive," Keiichiro said. "Pai said something about a truce, but then Taruto saw he was getting out a pot, and panicked. Is Pai really that bad?"

"Yes," Kisshu and Taruto said. "He poisoned us one time, and after that, he's been banned from the kitchen."

Keiichiro sighed, and said, "So what was that about a truce?"

Pai said, "Our leader is against us using Mew Aqua to heal our planet, and we believe he was just using us to take over the Earth for himself. We told him that plan, and he basically told us we were no good. We believe it would be better if our two groups cooperated to collect the Mew Aqua, and then used it to heal our home planet. Then we wouldn't have to attack the humans."

"That's a good plan, but do we have to worry about your leader?" Keiichiro asked.

"I'm working on that," Pai said. "He has a human host in your world, and if I find out who it is before he takes control, we can kill the human and the problem will be solved."

"Let's talk to the other Mews, too," Keiichiro said.

"Okay," Ichigo said. "Should we go now?"

"Sure," Keiichiro said. "Let's go."

**Okay, horrendous chapter ending. I hope you'll review, and not flame me. **


	11. Teleporting Mishaps

**Betraying My People Chapter 11:**

**Teleporting Mishaps**

"Where should we teleport to?" Pai asked.

"Café Mew Mew," Keiichiro said. "I can call up the others from there."

"Okay," Pai said. "Taruto, teleport Keiichiro, I'll take Kisshu and Ichigo."

Taruto nodded, and floated up, then grabbed Keiichiro's shoulder and teleported. Pai did the same with Kisshu and Ichigo. They landed in the main room of Café Mew Mew, and Keiichiro said, "I'll call the others." He left to find a phone.

Ichigo and Kisshu sat down at one of the tables, and Pai and Taruto sat down at another. Keiichiro came back a few minutes later, and said, "They're on their way. We just have to wait."

About fifteen minutes later, Mint and Lettuce came in. Zakuro and Pudding weren't too far behind. "Good, everyone's here," Keiichiro said when they were all inside. "Pai, would you care to explain your plan?"

"Hai," Pai said. "I believe if we cooperate to gather the Mew Aqua, we will be able to save my home planet, which would leave you humans this planet. We would have no need to attack anymore."

"That sounds like a good plan, but what happens with your leader?" Zakuro asked.

"I'm working on finding out who his human host is, so we can kill that person and solve this problem," Pai said.

"Alright," Zakuro said. "I think this is a good plan. What about the rest of you?"

The other Mews looked at each other, and all said, "We'll do it!"

"Good, that's settled," Keiichiro said. He turned to Pai and said, "How do you think we should go about gathering the Mew Aqua?"

"I'm not sure," Pai admitted. "Mew Aqua is generally located underground, and that's going to make it hard, since we don't know exactly where to look."

"Could we make some sort of sensor for Mew Aqua?" Keiichiro suggested.

"That's an idea," Pai said. "Can you do that? Or do you need help?"

"I might need help," Keiichiro admitted. "I have a small amount of Mew Aqua, we might be able to use it in creating the sensor."

"Alright," Pai said. "Are we using your lab or mine?"

"If you don't mind, I'd like to use mine," Keiichiro said.

"That's fine," Pai said. He turned to Kisshu and Ichigo, and said, "Do you want to go back to the ship?"

"Yeah," Kisshu said. "I think I can teleport, so we'll just go back. You stay here."

"Are you sure?" Pai asked, worried. "I don't want you to end up somewhere else because your teleport got messed up."

"I'll be fine," Kisshu said. He took Ichigo's hand, but before he could teleport, Pai said, "You know how to contact me if something goes wrong?"

"Yeah, telepathy," Kisshu said. "We're going." He gripped Ichigo's hand, and teleported. It seemed to take a bit longer this time, and Ichigo got worried. She was right to be worried, since they ended up on a deserted-looking street.

Ichigo looked around, and saw no one around. "Kisshu, where are we?" she asked.

Kisshu was staring straight ahead and didn't answer. Ichigo followed his gaze, and saw a woman with ears like Kisshu's looking at them in shock. Suddenly Ichigo noticed Kisshu's grip on her hand was getting weaker, and she turned back to him just in time to catch him as he collapsed. "Kisshu! Kisshu, wake up!" she cried out.

Suddenly she noticed the woman was coming closer, but she seemed almost hesitant. Ichigo was trying to hold up Kisshu, but finally had to sink to her knees and sling one of his arms over her shoulders. Then she stood up again. The woman was almost right in front of her. Her lips moved, but Ichigo didn't hear her, even with her advanced hearing. She decided to take a chance, and asked, "Can you help us?"

Instead of answering, the woman whispered, "Kisshu…."

"You know Kisshu?" Ichigo asked.

The woman seemed to snap out of shock and said, "Yes, of course, I'm his adoptive mother. Who are you?"

"I'm Ichigo," Ichigo said. "Um… where are we?"

"Ichigo, are you a human?" the woman asked.

"Hai," Ichigo said.

"Why are you with Kisshu?" the woman asked next.

"I joined him and his brothers after my parents were murdered," Ichigo said. "He was trying to teleport back to our ship, but I have no clue how we ended up here."

"It sounds like he made a mistake while thinking of where he wanted to go," the woman said. "I guess you'd both better come home with me."

"A-alright," Ichigo said. She followed the woman as she walked back the way she had come from. They eventually reached what looked like a tunnel, and Ichigo followed the woman in. They came to a door, and the woman knocked once, then opened it. Ichigo hesitantly followed her in, and the woman closed the door. A Cyniclon man came into the room, and started to say, "Hamaya, where-" then he broke off, seeing Ichigo and Kisshu. "What _happened?" _he asked. "And who's this?"

"This is Ichigo, and she says Kisshu teleported here by mistake," Hamaya said. "I brought them back here, since it looks like something's wrong with Kisshu. He collapsed soon after he landed."

"He teleported from _Earth?" _The man asked, seemingly horrified by this.

"Um… is that bad?" Ichigo asked.

Hamaya sighed. "It can be," she said. "It's good that Kisshu's so strong, teleporting between planets can really strain your body."

"I'm amazed he managed it, then," Ichigo said. "Today's the first day in almost a month and a half he's actually been able to teleport."

Hamaya immediately looked worried. "Did something happen to him?" she asked.

"Hai," Ichigo said. "A month and a half ago, he got seriously ill, and nearly died. I managed to heal him to the point that he wouldn't die, but he's been pretty slow to recover from that. He's nearly back to full strength, but teleporting is still hard on him. Is there somewhere he could rest here?"

"Let me show you where he sleeps," the man said. "I'm Aran, by the way, and that's my wife, Hamaya. We adopted Kisshu, and Pai and Taruto are our sons."

"It's nice to meet you," Ichigo said.

Aran smiled slightly and led her to a small room off the room they had been in. There was a futon on the floor, covered by a blanket. Aran took the blanket off, and Ichigo put Kisshu on the bed. She took off his boots, and Aran covered him with the blanket. Ichigo put a hand on Kisshu's forehead. "He doesn't have a fever, so it looks like we just have to wait for him to wake up," she said. "May I stay with him?"

"Hai," Aran said. "Hamaya and I will be in and out. Call if you need anything."

"Alright, thank you," Ichigo said.

Two hours later, Ichigo was still watching Kisshu. He hadn't stirred, and she was getting worried. _I wonder if I can sense the problem, _she thought. She gently placed a hand on Kisshu's chest, and concentrated. She sensed that his previous weakness was back, but he didn't have a fever this time. _Thank goodness for that, _she thought. _I wonder if I can heal this weakness. But I'm not sure how Hamaya and Aran would feel if they knew I'm a Mew. Maybe I should give it a bit more time. If Kisshu's not up in an hour, I'll go talk to them._

_**One hour later: **_Kisshu still hadn't stirred. Mentally sighing, Ichigo got up and went to find Hamaya and Aran.

They were in the main room, and they looked up at her. "How's Kisshu?" Hamaya asked.

"Still unconscious," Ichigo said. "I was wondering if you'd let me try to heal him."

"I thought humans didn't have powers like that," Aran said.

"Normal humans don't," Ichigo said. "I'm not entirely human, though. I'm a Mew Mew."

Hamaya and Aran looked scared. "The group that was supposedly attacking Kisshu?" Hamaya asked.

"Hai," Ichigo said. "I quit, though, and the guy who created the Mews got mad and murdered my parents. So I decided to join Kisshu, and that's what I did. I've been living with him, Pai and Taruto for about three months now."

"Your leader _murdered _your parents!?" Hamaya asked.

"Hai," Ichigo said sadly. "I killed him a while after I joined Kisshu. But by that point, we all had decided that the fighting was pretty pointless. Pai came up with another idea, and we were talking about that before Kisshu teleported here by mistake."

"What was Pai's idea?" Aran asked.

"Using Mew Aqua to restore this planet," Ichigo replied. "But we still need to help Kisshu. Will you let me heal him?"

"You can, but I'd like to watch," Hamaya said.

"Of course," Ichigo said. She went back to Kisshu's room, and took out her pendant, then transformed. Then she knelt next to Kisshu, and put a hand on his chest. Like the last time, she began to glow pink. The pink glow traveled from her to Kisshu, and he began to glow too. The glow slowly faded, and Ichigo took a deep breath. Kisshu was starting to wake up.

Kisshu opened his golden eyes, and looked surprised. "Koneko-chan? What happened?" he asked. Then he noticed Aran and Hamaya, and his jaw dropped. "I teleported home, didn't I?" he whispered.

"Yeah," Ichigo said. "I think I healed you, but how are you feeling?"

"Fine," Kisshu said, sitting up. "Thanks."

Ichigo smiled. "Sure."

Kisshu turned to Aran and Hamaya and said, "How's everything here?"

"Fine," Aran said. "You had us worried there. You've been out for about three and a half hours."

"WHAT!?" Kisshu yelled. "We have to get back, they'll be worried sick!"

"And how exactly are you planning on getting back?" Hamaya asked. "You can't teleport, it'll drain you again."

"Is there a way to contact the ship?" Ichigo asked. "Maybe Pai would have some ideas."

"We might have something," Aran said. "Come with us."

Kisshu and Ichigo got up, and followed Aran and Hamaya to a device that looked like a TV. Hamaya typed in a number on the keypad next to it, and waited as the screen turned from black to clear. Suddenly Pai's face came up, and he looked startled. "Mom? Is something wrong?" he asked.

"Yes, Kisshu somehow teleported himself and Ichigo here," Hamaya said. "Do you have some way of getting them?"

"I guess I can come back and get them," Pai said. "Is Kisshu okay?"

"Hai, Ichigo healed him," Hamaya said. "What's your ETA?"

"I'll be there in about eight hours," Pai said. "Can you wait?"

"Hai," Aran said. "We'll be waiting. Call when you get here."

"Will do," Pai said, and cut the connection.

Aran sighed and said, "He'll be here at about 10 tonight, then."

"I'm sorry," Kisshu said.

"You really should save that apology for Pai," Hamaya said. "It was nice to see you though."

"Thanks Aunt Hamaya," Kisshu said. "And thanks for not freaking about Ichigo."

"She's taken good care of you, we had no reason to freak," Aran said. "Let's go have dinner, and you can tell us about Earth."

"Okay," Kisshu and Ichigo said.

**Well, it's not the best ending, but my friend is begging me to update, and since she and all the rest of you are probably impatient, I'll end the chapter there and continue soon. Review!**


	12. Going Back to Earth

**Betraying My People Chapter 12:**

**Going Back to Earth**

Ichigo and Kisshu had dinner with Hamaya and Aran, and told them about Earth. They were interested, but sad that Earth was so polluted.

A few hours later, the TV-like device came on, and Pai's face appeared. "I'm here," he said. "Can you come out?"

"Hai," Aran said. "We'll be right there."

Kisshu and Ichigo followed him and Hamaya outside, where they saw the spaceship. Pai was waiting for them next to it, and they walked over to him. "Kisshu, are you okay?" Pai asked.

"I'm fine," Kisshu said. "Sorry this happened."

Pai sighed. "I think I should do some tests on you, to figure out why you can't teleport properly," he said. "I hope it doesn't have anything to do with Deep Blue."

"Why would Deep Blue cause Kisshu to have trouble teleporting?" Hamaya asked.

"Kisshu, you didn't tell them?" Pai asked. He turned to his parents and said, "We discovered Deep Blue was only using us. He wanted the Earth for himself, and we believe he's the reason Kisshu nearly died a while back."

Hamaya and Aran looked shocked. "Is that why you want to heal the planet with Mew Aqua?" Aran asked.

"Hai," Pai said. "We need to go back to Earth and search for the Mew Aqua, as well as find out who Deep Blue's human host is, so we can kill that person before Deep Blue gets to him. If Deep Blue awakens, we'll all be in for it."

"Should we inform our leader?" Hamaya asked.

"If you can, that'd be great," Pai said. "I don't think any of want to see what would happen if Deep Blue took over the Earth."

"Alright," Aran said. "It was nice to see you both again, and nice to meet Ichigo."

"Arigato, it was nice to meet you both as well," Ichigo said.

Hamaya hugged Pai and Kisshu, then said to Ichigo, "Take care of them."

"I will," Ichigo said. "I'm already cooking for them, and I like living with them. I'll take care of them."

Hamaya nodded, and Pai took Ichigo and Kisshu by the shoulder, then teleported back into the ship.

"Hey, where's Taruto?" Kisshu asked.

"He's with Pudding," Pai said. "She wanted him to sleep over at her house, and since I had to come get you two, I told him to go with her. I think she likes him."

"I just hope she doesn't decide to play with his ears," Ichigo said.

"We can hope," Pai said. "I think both of you should get some rest while we're flying. It's after midnight on Earth."

"Okay," Ichigo said. "Come on, Kisshu."

Kisshu followed her to his room, and said, "You want to sleep together again?"

"I like it," Ichigo said, blushing.

Kisshu smiled and said, "So do I."

They both went into his room, and curled up together on the bed. Ichigo was asleep soon after, but Kisshu couldn't fall asleep for some reason. _Oh well, _he thought. _Maybe I've been sleeping too much lately._

Instead of trying to go to sleep, Kisshu started stroking Ichigo's hair. She leaned into his hand in her sleep and started purring softly. Kisshu smiled and continued petting her. Half an hour later, he was starting to get sleepy too. Ichigo's purring was comforting somehow. Kisshu eventually fell asleep, his hand still on Ichigo's hair.

They were both woken up a few hours later by Pai, who waited till they were at least semi-awake before saying, "We should go to Earth now. Kisshu, I'll teleport both of you, I don't think it's a good idea for you to teleport until I figure out why you're having so much trouble."

Kisshu sighed, but nodded. Pai took him and Ichigo by the shoulder, and teleported to Café Mew Mew. Keiichiro was in the main room, and when he saw them, he said, "Oh, good. Kisshu, what happened?"

"I don't know," Kisshu said. "I somehow teleported back to our planet, and I guess that drained me, because I only woke up after Ichigo healed me. I don't know why we ended up on our planet, though. I thought I was teleporting back to the ship."

"Strange," Keiichiro said. "Well, at least you're okay. We should go to the basement, I called everyone together."

"Okay," Kisshu said. He, Ichigo and Pai followed Keiichiro to the basement, where they found the other Mews and Taruto waiting.

"Kisshu, are you okay?" Taruto asked.

"I'm fine," Kisshu said. "Ichigo healed me."

"Good," Taruto said. Surprisingly, he sounded relieved.

"Since when did you care that much?" Kisshu asked.

Taruto looked embarrassed and said, "You're my brother, of course I care about you."

"Aw, Taru-Taru is so cute!" Pudding said.

"_Taru-Taru_?" Kisshu asked, snickering.

"That's his new nickname," Pudding said cheerfully. "Taru-Taru and Pudding are friends now, na no da!"

"Good for you," Ichigo said.

Keiichiro cleared his throat, and everyone looked at him. "Pai and I have almost finished the Mew Aqua sensor," he said. "When it's completely done, we'll be testing it out, so I'll contact you when we've finished. We may have to do a lot of searching, so I want you to be prepared for a lot of time spent looking for Mew Aqua. We'll try not to overwork you, but we need to be prepared, since we still can't figure out who Deep Blue's human host is."

"You still don't know?" Kisshu asked.

"No," Pai said. "I've been researching, but my searches keep coming up with nothing for some reason."

"That doesn't sound good," Ichigo said.

"It's not," Pai said. "If Deep Blue manages to control the person, he'll be almost unbeatable."

"He said it was a boy," Taruto commented. "Is there a way to narrow down the search? Also, it must be someone in Tokyo, or he wouldn't have sent us here."

"You've got a point," Pai said. "I think I've got an idea. I'll be back later if it works. Kisshu, Ichigo, do you want to come back to the ship or stay here?"

"I think we should go back to the ship," Ichigo said. "Is that okay?"

"Yeah," Pai said. He took both Ichigo and Kisshu by the shoulder and teleported back to the ship. "I have to go back, so have fun," Pai said. "But don't go too far, got it?"

Kisshu sighed. "You sound like Uncle Aran," he said. "Don't worry about us."

"Fine…" Pai said. He teleported out, leaving Ichigo and Kisshu alone.

"What do you want to do now, Kisshu?" Ichigo asked.

"Play a game?" Kisshu suggested.

"What should we play?" Ichigo asked.

"How about Lost Cities?" Kisshu suggested.

"Sure," Ichigo said. "You have that game?"

"Yep," Kisshu said. "It's in my room, let's go."

So for the next few hours, Kisshu and Ichigo played Lost Cities. Ichigo was winning; she had won five times, and Kisshu had only won three times. He was getting frustrated, too. "You're a sore loser, aren't you?" Ichigo asked him.

"What makes you think that?" Kisshu asked.

"You're snarling at the cards," Ichigo said. "Do you want to play something else?"

"How about 'Cat and Mouse'?" Kisshu suggested.

"I've never heard of that, how do you play?" Ichigo asked.

Kisshu smirked. "One of us gets to be the Cat, and chases the other person around until either they get tired, or the Cat grabs them."

"Where did you come up with that?" Ichigo asked.

"I didn't, it's a child's game we played on my planet," Kisshu said. "This one time, Taruto and I were playing, and Pai was reading something. Taruto was trying to get Pai to hide him from me, and Pai whacked him over the head with a book. Boy, did Pai get in trouble. Aunt Hamaya was sooo mad. And Taruto barely got bruised. We spent two days secretly laughing at Pai's punishment."

"What was his punishment?" Ichigo asked.

"No reading unless it was school-related," Kisshu said, smirking. "To Pai, that's like torture."

Ichigo burst out laughing, and Kisshu joined in. When they started to calm down, Kisshu said, "Wanna hear a really funny story about Pai?"

"Sure," Ichigo said, still giggling.

"One time Uncle Aran left this bottle out on the table, and Pai, for some reason, drank it," Kisshu said. "Then he started acting like a lunatic, and when he saw this girl that we think he had a crush on, he tried to kiss her."

Ichigo started laughing again, but Kisshu said, "And that's not all. The girl ran away, and he started chasing her. Taruto came to find me, and I ended up having to knock Pai out, and apologize to the girl, and her mother, for letting Pai get so out of control. Uncle Aran told us later that the stuff Pai drank was an old bottle of some kind of alcohol, and he was going to throw it out, but Pai drank it before he could. Pai got in sooo much trouble, and he had to write an apology letter to the girl and her family. Boy, when he woke up, and we told him what he did, he turned so red we thought he was going to explode."

"Jeez, I thought Pai would know better than to drink something without knowing what it was," Ichigo said.

"Yeah, it was weird," Kisshu said.

Pai teleported in as they were contemplating what to do next. "Kisshu, I want to run a few tests on you," he said. "I think we need to get to the bottom of why you can't teleport properly."

Kisshu sighed. "Can Ichigo be there?" he asked.

"Yes," Pai said. "You're still not over your fear of needles?"

Kisshu turned slightly red and said, "I don't like them."

"I guess it's better that Ichigo be there, considering what happened the last time," Pai said.

"What happened?" Ichigo asked.

"Kisshu had to be dragged into my lab, and I had to put him to sleep," Pai said, as Kisshu turned red.

"Kisshu, there's nothing wrong with being afraid of needles," Ichigo said. "It's completely natural to be uncomfortable with being pricked like that."

"More like stabbed," Kisshu grumbled.

"Let's go," Pai said. "We need to do this. But Ichigo can be there, so it won't be as bad."

Kisshu sighed, and followed by Ichigo, followed Pai to the lab.

When they went in, Pai pointed to a chair, and said, "Okay, sit down over there. I'll go get the stuff ready."

Kisshu sat down in the chair, and Ichigo stood next to him. Pai came over with a needle attached to a small container, and said, "Okay, hold out your arm."

Kisshu grimaced, and Ichigo took his hand. He sighed and held his arm out. "Just don't look," Pai instructed. Kisshu looked away as Pai picked up the needle and stuck it into Kisshu's arm. Kisshu flinched, and his grip on Ichigo's hand tightened.

A few minutes later, Pai said, "Okay, I'm taking the needle out." He did so, and put a bandage on Kisshu's arm. "All set," Pai said.

"About time," Kisshu said. "How much blood did you take, anyways?"

"Two vials," Pai said. "I'm going to go look at it. Stay here, I might need to do a few more tests."

"Do they involve needles?" Kisshu asked warily.

"No," Pai said. "They involve one of my machines."

"Great…" Kisshu groaned.

Pai sighed. "I have to run some tests on your blood, so stay quiet for a while," he said.

Kisshu and Ichigo obeyed. About fifteen minutes later, Pai said, "Okay, there doesn't seem to be anything wrong, but I'm going to use the machine I have to figure out if your teleporting ability was messed up by your illness."

"Where is the machine?" Kisshu asked.

"I'll just bring it over, so stay put," Pai said. He went over to a cabinet and pulled out a small machine with a bunch of wires coming out of it. "I have to put you to sleep," he told Kisshu.

"Fine," Kisshu said.

Pai put a hand on Kisshu's forehead, and soon he was sleeping. Then Pai attached two of the wires to Kisshu's forehead, and pushed a button on the machine. He appeared to be looking at something, and suddenly his eyes widened. "This isn't good…" he whispered.

Scared, Ichigo asked, "What's wrong?"

"The part of his brain that tells the rest of him how to teleport has been damaged, probably by that fever," Pai said. "And I'm not sure how to fix it."

"What if I tried healing his brain, rather than his body?" Ichigo suggested.

"That's an idea," Pai said. "Go for it."

Ichigo nodded and transformed. She then began to glow pink, and put her hand on Kisshu's forehead. The pink glow started to move from her to Kisshu. This time only his head glowed, until the light faded. Ichigo took her hand away, and said, "Check it now, Pai."

Pai nodded, and pressed a button on the machine. He looked at something, and said, "Ichigo, that worked! He should be able to teleport fine now!"

"Great!" Ichigo said. "He'll be happy to hear that. Can you wake him up?"

Pai nodded, and took the wires away. Then he tapped Kisshu's forehead. Kisshu slowly woke up. "What happened?" he asked.

"You had brain damage from the fever, and that was what caused your teleporting problems," Pai explained. "But Ichigo healed you, so you should be able to teleport fine now."

Kisshu floated up and shouted, "YES! Thank you, Koneko-chan!"

Ichigo smiled and said, "You're welcome."

Kisshu smiled too, and took her hand, then teleported to his room. They landed on the bed, and Kisshu flopped back. Ichigo did the same, and they looked at each other. "I'm so happy I can teleport again!" Kisshu said. "I really missed that."

"I know," Ichigo said. "I'm glad I could help."

Kisshu smiled, then pulled Ichigo closer and kissed her. She kissed back, and they stayed like that for quite a while.

**Okay, next chapter might be more exciting. I know this was kinda boring. I hope you'll still review!**


	13. Deep Blue's Host

**Betraying My People Chapter 13:**

**Deep Blue's Host**

Finally Kisshu and Ichigo broke apart for air. "That was… _amazing_," Ichigo said.

Kisshu smirked and said, "So you do love me."

"I thought you already knew that," Ichigo said.

Kisshu was about to reply when Pai ran in and said, "I found Deep Blue's human host, we have to go to Café Mew Mew now!"

"Okay," Kisshu said. He took Ichigo's hand and teleported, followed closely by Pai. They landed in the basement, and Keiichiro, who was at the computer, looked up, startled.

"What's up?" he asked.

"I found Deep Blue's human host, call the others," Pai said. "Taruto's with Pudding."

"Got it," Keiichiro said, and picked up a cell phone. He quickly called all four of the other Mews, and told them to come quickly. After he finished, he snapped the phone shut and said, "Let's go upstairs, we can wait for them."

Kisshu, Ichigo and Pai followed Keiichiro upstairs. Mint was the first there, and the others weren't far behind. "We should go back to the basement," Pai said.

They all went back to the basement, and Zakuro asked, "So what's the urgency?"

"I found Deep Blue's human host," Pai said. "His name is Aoyama Masaya."

"Hey, isn't that the guy you had a crush on, Ichigo?" Kisshu asked.

"Yes," Ichigo said. "But I love you now, so you don't have to worry about me interfering with this."

"That's good," Pai said. "We need to kill him as soon as possible. Any ideas?"

"I know where he lives, but if we go there, his parents might get involved," Ichigo said.

"I guess that's a bad idea," Pai said. "We need to find some way to get him alone."

"Yeah, but HOW?" Kisshu said. "There are so many people here, it's going to be hard."

"What if we kidnapped him and killed him afterwards?" Mint suggested.

"That might work," Keiichiro said. "We need to find him first, though."

"Good point," Pai said. "Ichigo, do you have any idea where he might be? School's out for the day, right?"

"Either at home or at the school for kendo practice," Ichigo said. "If he's at the school, though, we're going to have problems. Every single girl at the school has a major crush on him, and they all go to the gym to watch him practice."

"Should we check out the school, and then decide what to do?" Taruto suggested. "If he's still there, we could ambush him on his way out."

"Good idea, Taruto," Pai said.

"How do we get there?" Taruto asked. "I don't know where it is."

"I do," Kisshu said.

"How do YOU know?" Ichigo asked. "Were you stalking me or something?"

"Yes," Kisshu said. "I can lead you guys there."

Pai sighed and said, "Fine. But later you are going to explain why you were stalking her."

Kisshu smirked. "Let's go," he said. "Ichigo, come with us, you know what he looks like better than I do."

"Okay," Ichigo said, then transformed. Kisshu smirked again and picked her up bridal style. She squeaked.

"What? You can't fly, so I have to carry you," Kisshu said.

"Fine…" Ichigo said. "I wish I could fly."

"I thought cats didn't like heights," Mint said.

Ichigo sighed. "Good point. Should we get going?"

"Yes," Pai said. "Kisshu, lead the way."

Kisshu nodded and flew up, then flew in the direction of Ichigo's school. Pai and Taruto followed him.

They finally reached Ichigo's school, and landed on the roof of the gym. There was a bunch of noise in the gym, mainly the sound of fangirl screams. "Yep, sounds like kendo practice," Ichigo said. "Every girl in the school turns out for that."

"Creepy," Kisshu said. "I guess we wait."

_**Half an hour later: **_"I'm BORED," Taruto moaned. "Can't we just go in and get the guy?"

"No, there are too many people there for it to work," Pai said. "Be patient."

_**Ten minutes later: **_"AAAARRGH!" Taruto yelled. "I can't take it anymore!"

Before the others could respond, the noise in the gym died away. "Great, Taruto, I think you blew our cover," Pai said.

He was proven correct as a large number of people ran out of the gym and looked around. Suddenly one girl looked up, and said, "There's people on the roof!"

"We're done for," Kisshu moaned. "Thanks, Taruto."

Taruto looked guilty.

"Ichigo, do you see Aoyama?" Pai asked.

Ichigo looked closely at the crowd, and said, "No. Maybe he's still inside."

They heard footsteps behind them, and spun. A few of the students had come up from the staircase to the roof. They looked a bit scared, but one girl asked, "What are you doing here?"

"Looking for someone," Taruto said.

The girls there started to get starry-eyed. This faded when Kisshu and Pai both whacked Taruto over the head. They were surprised when all the girls shouted, "HEY!"

"Yes?" Pai asked.

"You shouldn't beat up little kids," one of them said.

"I'm NOT a little kid!" Taruto said indignantly.

"Aww, he's so cute," another girl said. "Who were you looking for?"

"Aoyama Masaya," Taruto said.

"He's been missing for about a week," the girl said. "Everyone's really upset."

"You don't seem upset," Taruto said.

"I think he's a good-for-nothing pretty boy with no brains, but my view isn't popular," the girl said.

Kisshu burst out laughing. The girl looked at him curiously. "You feel the same way?" she asked.

Still laughing, Kisshu said, "Yep. My girlfriend used to be obsessed with him, and it took a while for her to warm up to me. I hate the guy."

The girl looked happy- until Pai whacked Kisshu again. "Why do you keep whacking your friend?" she asked.

"Because he's being stupid," Pai said emotionlessly.

"If you keep whacking him over the head, he'll get brain damage," the girl said.

"His girlfriend has the ability to heal," Pai said.

Ichigo whacked Pai in the head, and said, "I don't think you want to give Kisshu brain damage. I'm not going to have any energy left if I have to keep healing Kisshu. And the energy I do have will be spent making your life miserable for hurting my boyfriend."

Pai sighed, rubbing his head. "Fine…. I'll stop," he said.

"Good," Ichigo, Kisshu, and the girl said in unison.

"Shouldn't we get back?" Taruto asked.

"Probably," Pai said.

"Where are you going?" the girl asked. Suddenly her eyes widened, and she said, "Café Mew Mew?"

"Um… how did you know that?" Taruto asked.

"I don't know, the answer to my question just popped into my head," the girl said. "That was weird."

"Um… you haven't noticed any strange markings on your body recently, have you?" Ichigo asked.

The girl looked thoughtful. "I found a weird symbol on the inside of my wrist a while back," she said. "Does it mean something?"

"It means you'd better come with us," Pai said. "What's your name?"

"Kasumi," the girl said. "Tanika Kasumi. Why do I need to come with you?"

"Long story," Ichigo said. "And we have a friend who'd be better at explaining this. Can you come with us?"

"Hai," Kasumi said.

"Good," Kisshu said. "We're teleporting, so grab one of us, okay?"

Kasumi nodded and grabbed Taruto's shoulder as Kisshu took Ichigo's hand. Then they teleported to Café Mew Mew. Keiichiro looked up, startled, and said, "Who's this?"

"This is Tanika Kasumi," Ichigo said. "She told us she has a marking on her wrist. I think she might be a Mew."

Keiichiro looked shocked. "I thought there were only going to be five," he said.

"Is it possible one more was made after Ichigo quit?" Pai asked.

"Maybe…" Keiichiro said. "Kasumi, will you show me the marking?"

Kasumi rolled up her sleeve, and showed him the marking. It was shaped like a heart, but it was pure black, not a color like the others. "That doesn't look like the other Mew markings," Keiichiro said.

"What do you think it is?" Ichigo asked.

"I'm not sure," Keiichiro admitted. "Kasumi, is it okay if I do a blood test on you?"

"I guess, but why?" Kasumi asked.

"To see what caused this marking," Keiichiro explained.

"Okay," Kasumi said. She followed Keiichiro into the basement, as did Ichigo and the Cyniclons. Keiichiro had her sit in a chair, then took a needle, and took some of her blood.

"All set, let me get you a bandage," Keiichiro said. He put a bandage on her arm, and turned to Pai. "Did you succeed?" he asked.

"No," Pai said. "Kasumi told us Aoyama's gone missing."

"Um… sorry for interrupting, but what's going on?" Kasumi asked.

"I'm sorry, we should have explained it first," Keiichiro said. "Pai and the others brought you here because they thought you might be a Mew Mew."

"You said something about that earlier," Kasumi said. "What's a Mew Mew?"

"I'm a Mew Mew," Ichigo said. "There are four other girls who are Mew Mews as well. I'm half human and half Iriomote Wildcat. All of us are infused with the DNA of a Red Data animal. We were originally created to fight off these guys"- she pointed to the Cyniclons- "but we formed a truce, and we're working together to save their planet. We're also working to stop their evil leader from taking over the Earth."

Kasumi looked a bit overwhelmed. "Am I a Mew Mew?" she asked.

"We're not sure, which is why Keiichiro is going to run a test on the blood he took from you, to see what, if anything, your DNA is mixed with," Pai said. "I think that due to that marking, you must be infused with something, since it's not a birthmark."

"Is there something I have to do once we figure out what I'm infused with?" Kasumi asked.

"We're going to be looking for a substance called Mew Aqua, which, if we can get enough of it, has the ability to bring my home planet back to life," Pai said.

"Okay, is it hard to find?" Kasumi asked.

"Very, but we're almost finished with a sensor that will allow us to find it," Pai said. "When the sensor is finished, we'll start searching."

"Okay," Kasumi said.

"Pai, you said Aoyama had disappeared," Keiichiro said. "Any theories on why?"

"It's possible Deep Blue has him," Pai said. "If so, we're in for a tough fight. That's the only explanation I can think of for why he'd disappear without a trace."

"That's not good," Keiichiro said. "Is there a way to pinpoint where he is?"

"I can try," Pai said. "I'm going back to the ship. The rest of you are free to do what you want until I figure out what's going to happen." He teleported out.

"I'm going to look at the blood sample," Keiichiro said. "Why don't you go upstairs, it might take a while."

"Okay," Ichigo said. "Kasumi, would you like to stay, or go home?"

"I'll stay," Kasumi said. "I'm curious to find out what happens."

Ichigo smiled and led her and Kisshu upstairs. They sat down at a table, and Kasumi asked, "So, what's your name? I don't think you told me."

"I'm Ichigo," Ichigo said. "And that's Kisshu."

"It's nice to meet both of you," Kasumi said. "Ichigo, do you have a human form?"

"Hai," Ichigo said. "But if I show you, you can't tell anyone, okay? It's really important that we keep our identities secret. Otherwise we'll all get dissected."

Kasumi shuddered. "I understand," she said. "I don't want to get dissected. I won't tell anyone."

Ichigo nodded and detransformed. Kasumi's jaw dropped. "Momomiya Ichigo?" she whispered in obvious shock.

"Hai," Ichigo said.

"Everyone thinks you're dead," Kasumi said softly. "It was on the news when your neighbor called the police after finding your parents dead, and you missing. The police never found the killer, and it was assumed that you had been kidnapped for some reason. After a while, they gave up the search, and you were put on the 'presumed dead' list of missing people. What happened? Your friends were devastated, especially Moe and Miwa. Why didn't you let anyone know you were alive?"

"I couldn't," Ichigo said. "I would have not only revealed the Mews, but I would lose the chance to avenge my parents."

"So that means you know who killed them?" Kasumi asked.

"Yeah, the guy who created the Mews got angry after I quit, and killed my parents, and tried to brainwash me. His brainwashing machine didn't work, so I remembered everything," Ichigo said.

"That's horrible!" Kasumi said. "So what happened to him?"

"I killed him," Ichigo said. "He deserved it."

"Wow," Kasumi said.

"Yeah," Ichigo said. "Please don't tell anyone I'm alive, okay? I don't want to have to explain why I disappeared."

"Okay, I won't," Kasumi said.

The three of them sat around in silence until Keiichiro came upstairs and said, "I got the results."

"And?" Ichigo asked.

"Well…"

**MWAHAHAHAHAHA! Cliffie! Review!**


	14. Kasumi

**Betraying My People Chapter 14:**

**Kasumi**

"Is something wrong?" Kasumi asked.

"For some reason, you appear to be half human and half Cyniclon," Keiichiro said. "But to my knowledge, we never had Cyniclon DNA, so I don't know how you became this way."

"Do you think someone else made me this way?" Kasumi asked.

Kisshu suddenly looked worried. "What if Deep Blue did this?" he said.

"I doubt that," Keiichiro said. "Pai said he'd be almost unbeatable if he awakens; there shouldn't be any reason for him to create Mews to help. My guess is that Ryou had some Cyniclon DNA that he didn't tell me about, and he used it on Kasumi."

Kisshu looked relieved. "I guess that makes more sense," he said. "But does that mean we have to train Kasumi? It takes months to learn how to use Cyniclon powers. We don't have months."

"Not necessarily," Keiichiro said. "If she's a Mew, she may already have full control when she transforms. Look at Ichigo. She didn't need to train before going into battle; she knew how to use her powers the minute she first transformed."

"True," Kisshu said. "Do you have a transformation device for Kasumi?"

"I don't, but I bet Masha does," Keiichiro said. "Can you go get him?"

"Sure," Kisshu said, and teleported out.

"Will I be able to do that?" Kasumi asked. "That looks cool."

"I'm not sure," Keiichiro said. "I would think so, but I can't say for sure."

Kisshu teleported back in, and let Masha go; he had been holding him by the tail. "Masha is really hard to catch," he complained.

"Masha, did you have to make Kisshu catch you?" Ichigo asked.

"Masha had fun!" the puffball said cheerfully. Kisshu glared at him.

"Masha, do you have a pendant for Kasumi?" Keiichiro asked.

Masha floated over, then squeaked and spit a pendant out of his mouth. Kasumi caught it, and looked at it. It looked like the others' pendants. Then she cried, "Mew Mew Mist! Metamorpho-SIS!"

When the transformation was complete, Kasumi had dark green hair pulled back into a braid that went halfway down her back, and green eyes. She also had Cyniclon ears, and pale skin. She was wearing a black miniskirt, and a dark green t-shirt that showed her stomach. She was also wearing boots similar to Kisshu's, except they were green, not brown. She didn't have ribbons on her clothes, however. "COOL!" she said, looking at herself.

"You should have a weapon, too," Keiichiro said.

Kasumi focused, then cried, "Mist Daggers!" A pair of short daggers appeared in her hands. Each one had the kanji for fire emblazoned on the hilt. "This is great!" she said.

"Good," Keiichiro said. "Just don't do your attack in here, okay?"

"Sure," Kasumi said, making the daggers disappear. Then she detransformed. "I have to get home and feed the cats," she said. "Do you want me to give you my cell phone number?"

"Yes please," Keiichiro said. "I may need to contact you at times, so it would be good to have it."

Kasumi nodded and wrote down her number on the paper he handed her. "I'm going, so I guess I'll see you around," she said. "Ja ne!"

"Ja ne," Kisshu, Ichigo and Keiichiro replied. Kasumi smiled and went out the door.

Keiichiro turned to Kisshu and Ichigo after she left, and said, "I don't think there's anything else you need to stay for, so if you want, you can go back to the ship."

"Okay!" Kisshu said. "Do you want Masha to stay?"

"No, you can take him back," Keiichiro said. "Do you know why he gave you guys the Mew Project data? Not that I mind, but I thought he was programmed to only obey Ichigo or Ryou."

"He did," Kisshu replied. "Koneko-chan was the one who told him to give Pai the data. Clever little thing, isn't he?"

"Maybe a bit too clever, but it worked out, since we're not fighting anymore," Keiichiro said.

"What do you mean by 'too clever'?" Ichigo asked.

"Masha can think for himself," Keiichiro said. "That's why he obeyed the order to give Pai the Mew Project data, when he really shouldn't have done that. He recognized that Pai wasn't evil, and gave him the information. Frankly, I think he might have even sensed that the bad guy was Ryou, not Kisshu, Pai or Taruto."

"That's amazing, I've never heard of a robot that can think for itself," Kisshu said.

"That was probably a mistake on Ryou's part," Keiichiro admitted. "But it worked out well for all of us."

"Sure did," Ichigo said. "Kisshu, can we go back?"

"Sure, Koneko-chan," Kisshu said, taking her hand. "Bye, Keiichiro."

"Bye," Keiichiro said.

Kisshu teleported back to his room, and Ichigo let go of his hand. "What should we do now?" Kisshu asked.

"Tell Pai about Kasumi?" Ichigo suggested.

"Okay," Kisshu said.

They went to the lab, and Ichigo knocked. No response. "He's probably ignoring us," Kisshu said, and banged on the door, then shouted, "OI! PAI!"

"WHAT DO YOU WANT!?" Pai shouted back.

"I want you to come out of there and hear what we have to say," Kisshu said in a more normal, but still loud, voice.

They heard footsteps, then the door flew open, almost hitting Ichigo, and Pai said, "What is so important?"

"Kasumi is half Cyniclon," Kisshu said. "Keiichiro thinks that Ryou may have had some Cyniclon DNA and not told anyone."

"So she's not part animal?" Pai asked.

"No," Kisshu said. "She looks like us when she transforms, too."

"Wow," Pai said. "Is that all? I should get back to work."

"What are you doing?" Ichigo asked.

"Trying to determine when Deep Blue will appear," Pai said grimly.

"Then I guess we'll leave you in peace," Ichigo said. Pai went back into his lab and closed the door.

"Should we go back to your room?" Ichigo asked.

"I think it's more like _our _room now," Kisshu said with a smirk. "Sure."

Ichigo blushed and followed him back to their room.

**I KNOW it's short. And it's filler. I just wanted to let people know a little more about Kasumi. Plz review!**


	15. Fluff

**Betraying My People Chapter 15:**

**Fluff**

Ichigo and Kisshu went back to their room, and sat on the bed. "What should we do now?" Ichigo asked.

"Make out?" Kisshu suggested eagerly.

"Is that all you think about?" Ichigo asked.

Kisshu smirked, and said, "Pretty much."

Ichigo rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. "You've got a one-track mind," she said.

"I do not," Kisshu said.

"Oh?" Ichigo said. "What else do you think about?"

"Um… food…" Kisshu said.

Ichigo burst out laughing. Kisshu looked rather disgruntled with that response. "What's so funny?" he asked.

"You!" Ichigo said, and continued laughing. "The only thing you think about besides kissing me is food?"

"There wasn't a lot on our planet, so food is a perfectly natural thing to think about," Kisshu said.

Ichigo stopped laughing. "I'm sorry," she said.

Kisshu sighed. "I came to Earth in hopes that I could help my people, and then less people would die of sickness or starvation," he said. "I just hope the Mew Aqua will help."

Ichigo took his hand, and said, "I think it will. We'll make it work."

Kisshu pulled her into his arms and hugged her, burying his face in her shoulder. Ichigo was a bit surprised, but hugged him back. Suddenly she felt Kisshu's shoulders shaking, and, worried, asked, "What's wrong?"

"I miss my parents," Kisshu said, his voice muffled by Ichigo's shirt. "They died a long time ago, but I really miss them."

"I'm sorry I brought this topic up," Ichigo said softly. "Don't worry, I'm here for you."

"Thanks, Koneko-chan," Kisshu said softly. "I'm tired, can we go to sleep for a while?"

"Sure," Ichigo said. She gently let him go, and he laid back. Ichigo pulled a blanket over them, and laid back. Kisshu was already asleep, and Ichigo wasn't far off. She put an arm over Kisshu, and he snuggled up to her in his sleep. She smiled slightly as she fell asleep.

A few hours later, both of them were woken up by someone shaking them. Kisshu opened his eyes, and saw Pai standing over him, looking actually scared. "Is something wrong?" he asked. "You look scared."

"I was doing research on Deep Blue, and figured out that he can cause sickness in anyone," Pai said. "I found you two asleep and got worried."

"Sorry," Ichigo said. "Kisshu and I got tired earlier, so we decided to go to sleep. I'm fine. Kisshu, what about you?"

"I'm fine," Kisshu said. "But I'm hungry, what time is it?"

"A little past six," Pai said. "Ichigo, do you want to cook something?"

"Sure, what do you guys want?" Ichigo asked.

"Something with noodles," Kisshu said. "Do we have anything for that?"

"Sure," Ichigo said. "Is noodles with chicken okay?"

"Sure," Pai said. "I think I should tell Keiichiro my latest findings, so I'll go to Café Mew Mew while you're cooking."

"Why not invite Keiichiro over for dinner?" Ichigo asked. "We never have guests."

"I guess," Pai said. "I'll see if he wants to come." He teleported off.

Kisshu and Ichigo got up and went to the kitchen. Ichigo started the chicken, and then got out a package of noodles, which she put into boiling water. She put a bunch of seaonings into the chicken, then started shredding it. Then she mixed the chicken and noodles together in one pot.

Pai teleported in a few minutes later with Keiichiro, and said, "That smells good. I brought Keiichiro."

"Good, it's almost ready," Ichigo said. "Kisshu, will you set the table?"

"I already did," Kisshu said. "You just weren't looking."

"Thanks," Ichigo said, blushing. "Where's Taruto?"

"Pudding's, being attacked by her siblings," Keiichiro said. "They've got so much energy."

"Should we get him?" Pai asked.

"No, Pudding invited him for dinner; her siblings are playing while she cooks," Keiichiro said.

"Okay, it's ready," Ichigo said. She put the pot on the table, and said, "You can help yourselves, there's plenty."

"Thank you," Pai, Keiichiro and Kisshu said. Keiichiro took some, and waited as the others took some as well.

As soon as they all had some, they started eating. "This is really good, Ichigo," Keiichiro said. "You're a good cook."

"Thanks," Ichigo said. "It's a good thing, since none of these guys can cook very well. And Pai can't cook without creating a disaster or burning something."

Pai sighed. "Why do you have to remind me of that constantly?" he asked.

"So you won't try anything," Kisshu said. "That smoke alarm really hurts."

"Pai, you said something about Deep Blue making people sick," Keiichiro said. "Would you explain that further?"

"Hai," Pai said. "I thought that the illness that nearly killed Kisshu was caused by Deep Blue, but my search on that subject proved it. I was researching the effect Deep Blue could have on a specific Cyniclon or human, since he is so powerful. I found that he has the ability to create a sickness and then attach it to one person. And I think that if he was to do it again, he would either go for Kisshu again- or Ichigo."

"Why me?" Ichigo asked, sounding scared.

"You're the strongest Mew," Keiichiro said. "If Deep Blue wants the strongest fighters out of the way, he'd have to take down you and Kisshu."

Ichigo looked scared. Kisshu noticed and said, "Don't worry about it. I think if he's going to make someone sick again, it'll be me, and you can heal, remember?"

"Yeah…" Ichigo said.

"I also believe that Deep Blue will appear fairly soon," Pai said. "If his human host has gone missing, it probably means he's getting ready to attack."

"I'll let the other Mews know as soon as possible," Keiichiro said. "What will you do after this battle is over?"

"Get the Mew Aqua and go home, hopefully," Pai said. "I don't see how we could stay on Earth."

"And Ichigo?" Keiichiro asked.

"She helped us in a big way, it should be fine if she goes too," Kisshu said.

"I agree," Pai said. "And I told my parents to inform our leader that Deep Blue never intended to help us."

"Good," Keiichiro said. "I hope the other Cyniclons understand the situation."

"So do I," Pai said. "We'll have to wait and see. I just hope we don't get exiled if my parents don't manage to convince our leader that Deep Blue is evil."

"I have two spare rooms if that happens," Keiichiro said. "I know there's four of you, but we could work it out."

"Kisshu and I already sleep together," Ichigo said. "Sharing isn't a problem for us."

"Pai, would you and Taruto be capable of sharing a room?" Keiichiro asked.

"Probably," Pai said. "Unless, of course, Pudding asks Taruto to live with her. She really seems to like him."

"Well, we'll see," Keiichiro said. "We don't even know if you will get exiled."

"True," Pai said. He turned to Ichigo and said, "Would you like me and Keiichiro to do the dishes?"

"That'd be great," Ichigo said. Pai nodded, and started collecting the dishes. Keiichiro went to the sink and rolled up his sleeves.

Kisshu said, "Koneko-chan, wanna go back to our room?"

"Sure," Ichigo said.

Pai heard them and said, "Don't go too far."

"You still sound like Uncle Aran," Kisshu complained. "Don't you trust us?"

"Ichigo, yes, but not you," Pai said.

Kisshu sighed and teleported out with Ichigo. They landed on the bed, and flopped back. Ichigo looked at Kisshu, and asked, "Why is Pai worried?"

"He thinks I'm immature," Kisshu grumbled. "And irresponsible, and probably stupid, too."

"I'm sure Pai doesn't think you're stupid," Ichigo said. "And I don't think any of those are true."

"Thanks, Koneko-chan," Kisshu said. "I'm glad we're together."

"Me too," Ichigo said with a smile.

"Hey, I just remembered something I forgot to do earlier," Kisshu said, sitting up.

"What?" Ichigo asked.

Kisshu smirked and said, "This." Then he pulled her closer, put a hand on the back of her head, and kissed her passionately. Ichigo's eyes slid shut, and she kissed back, pulling Kisshu closer. It was a while before they broke apart.

Finally they stopped kissing, and looked at each other, breathing hard. "That was….. _great,_" Ichigo said.

Kisshu smiled and said, "It was, wasn't it? I love kissing you."

"I love kissing you too," Ichigo said. "You're really good."

"Thanks," Kisshu said. "So are you."

Ichigo smiled. Then she yawned. "I'm getting tired," she said.

"It's about 9," Kisshu said. "Should we go to bed?"

"Yeah…" Ichigo said sleepily. She was already half-asleep. Kisshu pulled a blanket over them, and started stroking Ichigo's hair. She was already sleeping. Her cat ears popped out in her sleep, and Kisshu petted them. Ichigo started purring and leaned into his hand. Eventually, her purring put Kisshu to sleep as well.

**Based on what Pai found out about Deep Blue, can you guess what I'll do next? Review and tell me! I won't update until two people guess!**


	16. Not Good

**Betraying My People Chapter 16:**

**Not Good**

The next morning, Kisshu woke up first. He noticed right away that he had a really bad headache, and got worried. _What if this is another illness from Deep Blue? _he thought. _I really don't want to spend another month and a half unable to do anything, especially if Deep Blue appears soon. _With that in mind, he decided to wake up Ichigo. He shook her shoulder, and she started to wake up. "Kisshu? Is something wrong?" she yawned.

"I have a really bad headache," Kisshu said.

Ichigo became alert almost instantly. She sat up, and said, "Lie back, I'll see what's wrong." Kisshu obeyed, and Ichigo put a hand on his forehead, then closed her eyes. Suddenly she yanked her hand away, and opened her eyes.

"Is something wrong?" Kisshu asked. "Besides the headache?"

"Your skin started heating up," Ichigo said. "It startled me." She put her hand back on his forehead, and said, "You've got a fever, but it's not as bad as last time. I don't think this is from Deep Blue; I think you just have a cold."

"Can you do something about that?" Kisshu asked. "If Deep Blue appears soon, I need to be at full strength."

"Okay," Ichigo said. "Let me get my pendant." She got up, pulling the blankets back over Kisshu, and went over to Kisshu's desk, where she had left it the night before.

It wasn't there.

Ichigo told herself not to panic, and started looking around the desk. Then she checked her pockets. Still no sign of it. Kisshu notice her looking worried, and asked, "Is something wrong?"

"I can't find my pendant," Ichigo said, sounding scared.

"Is it possible that it's in your clothes from yesterday?" Kisshu asked.

"I'll check," Ichigo said. She felt around in the pockets of her skirt from yesterday, and finally said, "It's not there either!"

Kisshu started to look worried too. "Why would it disappear?" Ichigo moaned.

"Go ask Pai, maybe he wanted to look at it," Kisshu said. "I thought I heard teleportation in here last night, but I could be wrong, I was tired."

"I'll go now," Ichigo said. She ran out and to Pai's lab. Pai was just coming out and asked, "What's up?"

"My pendant is missing, do you know where it is?" Ichigo asked.

"No," Pai said, looking worried. "Do you need it now?"

"Yeah, Kisshu caught a cold," Ichigo said. "I don't think it has anything to do with Deep Blue, but he asked if I could heal him."

"Did you look everywhere?" Pai asked.

"Hai," Ichigo said. "I can't imagine what could have happened."

"I can't either," Pai said. "Did you hear anything last night?"

"No, but Kisshu said he might have heard teleportation," Ichigo said. "He was too tired to say for sure, though."

Pai looked scared. "This is bad," he said. "If someone who can teleport took your pendant, we're in trouble. I can't see Taruto taking it for any reason, so it must be related to Deep Blue."

"What do we do?" Ichigo asked. "If Deep Blue tries to kill Kisshu again, I'll be powerless!"

Pai seemed to be thinking, and then said, "Try transforming without the pendant. The power's inside your DNA. It might work."

"O-okay," Ichigo said. She concentrated, and then shouted, "Mew Mew Strawberry! Metamorpho-SIS!" To her surprise, it worked! Soon she was fully transformed, and she turned to Pai. "Thanks, great idea!" she said to him.

"Good," Pai said. "You should go to Kisshu, we need him at full strength."

"Hai," Ichigo said, and ran back to their room.

Kisshu looked up as she came in, and said, "You found it?"

"No," Ichigo said. "But Pai suggested trying to transform without the pendant, and it worked!"

"Great!" Kisshu said. His smile faded as he began coughing, though. Ichigo went over and put a hand on his chest, and she began to glow pink. The glow flowed into Kisshu, and he stopped coughing. Finally they both stopped glowing, and Kisshu sat up. "Thanks Koneko-chan, I feel a lot better," Kisshu said happily.

"Good…" Ichigo said.

"Are you okay?" Kisshu asked, worried by how tired she sounded. He got up- just in time to catch her as she collapsed. "Ichigo? ICHIGO!" Kisshu cried out. He put a hand on her forehead, and his eyes widened. She was burning up. He put her on their bed, and covered her with the blankets. Then he teleported to Pai, and before Pai could say anything, said, "Ichigo's really sick! I think Deep Blue caused her to get sick this time!"

"Kisshu, you need to calm down," Pai said. "It's not going to help Ichigo if you panic."

"How can I calm down!?" Kisshu shouted. "The only reason I'm still alive after what Deep Blue did to me is because Ichigo can heal. I can't heal! And as far as I know, neither can you or Taruto!"

Pai grabbed Kisshu by the shoulders, and shook him, saying, "We'll find a way to help Ichigo. You need to calm down! If she sees you like this, it'll scare her! I won't let her die, and knowing how stubborn you are, you won't either. Get a grip!"

Kisshu took a deep breath, and let it out. "Thanks, Pai, I needed that," he said. "But what should we do?"

"I'll get the medicine," Pai said. "You go back to her." He teleported out, and Kisshu teleported to Ichigo.

She was asleep when he got there. Pai teleported in, and said, "You're going to have to wake her up."

Kisshu nodded, and shook Ichigo's shoulder gently. She stirred, but didn't wake up. "Ichigo, wake up," he said, shaking her again.

Ichigo 'nya'd' and opened her eyes. "I don't feel good," she said.

"Pai has some of the medicine for you," Kisshu said. "Can you sit up?"

"I think so," Ichigo said. She tried, and managed it, but looked pretty tired out. Kisshu took the medicine from Pai and gave her two spoonfuls. "Yuck," she said. "Can I go back to sleep?"

"Yeah, sure," Kisshu said. Ichigo laid back down, and fell asleep within seconds.

"You should stay with her," Pai said to Kisshu. "I'll leave the medicine here, but don't give her too much; this stuff is pretty strong. And call me if something happens."

"Okay," Kisshu said. He sat down next to Ichigo as Pai teleported out.

**I know it's short, but I received an idea from OkamiAmaterasuLuver for Ichigo's Illness, so I'll work on that for a while. Review!**


	17. Kisshu's New Power

**Betraying My People Chapter 17:**

**Kisshu's New Power**

Kisshu was still sitting next to Ichigo a few hours later, watching her sleep. He was really worried, but trying to keep calm. It wasn't easy; Ichigo's fever was still pretty high. He gently put a hand on her forehead, and his eyes widened. Her fever had shot up again. Kisshu noticed Ichigo was starting to wake up, and said softly, "Ichigo?"

Ichigo turned her head and said, "Kisshu? I feel awful."

"Can you take more of the medicine?" Kisshu asked.

"Yeah…" Ichigo said.

Kisshu got the medicine and the spoon, then gave a spoonful to Ichigo, who swallowed it. She sighed and asked, "Can I go back to sleep?"

"Sure, get some rest," Kisshu said, trying to keep his voice steady.

Ichigo still noticed, and said, "You're really worried, aren't you?"

"I don't want you to die," Kisshu said. "I'm scared for you."

"I won't die," Ichigo said. "I know you'd never let me."

Kisshu looked at her. She was smiling at him, and he couldn't help but smile back, as she started to go back to sleep.

Two hours later, Kisshu was back to being scared. Ichigo's fever was back up, and she wouldn't wake up, even though she was still breathing fine. Finally Kisshu called Pai using telepathy. Pai teleported in a minute later, by which point Kisshu was starting to panic again.

Pai examined Ichigo, and finally said, "I don't think there's anything we can do. I'm sorry, Kisshu, but if the fever medicine can't bring her fever down, she has little to no chance of surviving. You got lucky; in any normal situation, you too would have died. Ichigo healing you was a stroke of luck."

Kisshu buried his face in his hands and started sobbing. "How can this be happening?" he cried. "I can't lose her, I can't!"

Pai was silent, unsure of what to say. He hadn't seen Kisshu cry like this since his parents died. Suddenly he noticed Kisshu seemed to be glowing a soft green. He didn't seem to notice, and Pai didn't say anything, in case it got Kisshu's hopes up for no reason. He simply watched as the glow got brighter, and started to flow into Ichigo. _That's odd; did they somehow gain the same power? _Pai thought. _But how is that possible? Unless… they're so close that they're somehow gaining the same powers. _Pai remained silent, thinking this over. He noticed the glow fading, but Kisshu didn't seem to. He was still crying, and hadn't seemed to notice anything.

That is, until Ichigo woke up and asked softly, "Kisshu, why are you crying?"

Kisshu's head shot up and he looked at her, tears still running down his face. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"I feel a lot better, what happened?" Ichigo asked.

Pai stepped forward, and said, "Kisshu was glowing, and the glow flowed into you. I think he has the same healing power you do."

Kisshu looked at Pai, and said, "I was glowing?"

"Yeah, you were glowing this soft green color, and the glow flowed into Ichigo, like when she healed you," Pai said. "I take it you didn't notice?"

"No," Kisshu said sheepishly. "But that's great!"

"I agree," Ichigo said. "Now we've got another healer!" To Kisshu and Pai's surprise, she sat up. She noticed they both looked shocked, and said, "I don't feel weak anymore. Maybe you're more powerful than me, Kisshu."

"Or maybe you weren't as close to death as he was," Pai said. "Still, I'm surprised that Kisshu didn't even notice he was healing you."

"Well, I'm just glad it worked," Kisshu said. "I don't know what I'd do if I lost you, Ichigo."

Ichigo blushed. "I know I couldn't live without you," she said. "At least we're both alive. Thanks for saving me, Kisshu."

Kisshu smiled and sat on the bed, then regardless of the fact Pai was still there, kissed her passionately. Ichigo kissed him back, her eyes sliding shut.

About twenty seconds later, they heard Pai teleport out, and broke apart. They looked at each other- and burst out laughing. "I guess he can't take the heat," Kisshu said, still laughing. "Boy, it'll be fun to tease him later."

Ichigo giggled. "Can we get something to eat?" she asked. "I'm hungry."

"Can you stand?" Kisshu asked. "I don't want you to push yourself."

Ichigo pushed back the blankets, and stood up. She was a little shaky, and Kisshu said, "I think I should get us something, you're looking pretty shaky. What do you want?"

"I made miso soup two nights ago, can we have that?" Ichigo asked. Her legs chose that moment to give out, and Kisshu caught her, and set her back down on the bed.

"Sure, I'll go get that," Kisshu said. "You rest." He teleported out.

Ten minutes later he came back with two hot bowls of miso soup, and handed one to Ichigo on a tray. "Thanks," Ichigo said, lifting the bowl up and drinking some. Kisshu took his to the night table and set it down, blowing on it before drinking some.

A while later, they were done, and both of them were getting sleepy; it was late. "Let's go to bed," Kisshu said.

Ichigo nodded, and they curled up together on the bed. Soon they were both asleep.

_**The next morning: **_Ichigo woke up feeling fine, but immediately noticed Kisshu wasn't in the bed anymore. She sat up, and saw that he wasn't in the room at all. _That's odd, _she thought. _He usually wakes me up when he gets up. Did something happen?_

Her cat hearing picked up a noise from next door, which was the bathroom. It sounded like someone was throwing up. She got out of bed, and got dressed, then walked to the bathroom. The noise had stopped, but the door was still closed. Ichigo knocked, and heard a soft groan. "Are you okay? Who's in there?" she asked.

"Koneko-chan?" she heard Kisshu ask.

"Yeah, what's wrong?" Ichigo asked.

"I think I ate something bad for me, my stomach feels awful," Kisshu said.

Ichigo suddenly realized she was starting to feel sick too. "Maybe the miso soup was going bad, I'm not feeling that great either," she said. "Can I come in? I don't feel good, and I don't really want to throw up on the floor."

"Go ahead," Kisshu said.

Ichigo opened the door as Kisshu flushed the toilet. She felt her stomach heave, and raced over, throwing up into the toilet. She felt Kisshu rubbing her back as she threw up basically everything she had eaten yesterday. Before she was finished, she heard Kisshu swallow, and felt him stop rubbing her back. Then she heard him open a cabinet and grab something, she assumed a bucket, and throw up again. She finally finished, and grabbed a tissue to wipe her face. Then she stood up shakily, and looked over at Kisshu. He had stopped too, and he looked back at her. "This isn't good," he said. "I hope this doesn't turn out to be another Deep Blue thing."

Ichigo was going to reply, but felt her stomach heave again, and she doubled up over the toilet. When she finished, she said, "I hope not too. Maybe we should go see Pai, he might know if the soup was bad."

As it turned out, they didn't have to go anywhere. There was a knock on the door, and Pai's voice said, "Are you two not feeling well?"

"We think the miso soup might have gone bad," Kisshu said. "We're both sick to our stomachs. Can you go see if that's the problem?"

"Sure," Pai said. "Taruto and I didn't eat any, so it might just be you two." They heard the sound of teleportation, and then Kisshu said, "I guess he went to check. Great, I'm feeling sick again." He quickly put the bucket on the counter before throwing up. Ichigo came over and rubbed his back until he stopped.

They heard a knock on the door a minute later, and Pai said, "I don't think there's anything wrong with the soup; did either of you eat anything else that might have disagreed with your stomachs?"

"No, or at least not the same thing," Ichigo said. "The only thing we both ate that might have caused this was the soup. Do you think something else is causing this?"

"Maybe," Pai said. "Can I come in? Maybe I can sense the problem."

"Sure," Kisshu said. Pai opened the door, and said, "I think if you have the same thing, I only need to examine one of you, so which one of you wants to go?"

Ichigo felt her stomach heave again, and pointed to Kisshu with a hand over her mouth. As soon as Pai nodded, she turned back to the toilet and threw up again.

When she was finished, Pai said, "I think you both got some kind of stomach bug. I'd have to do a bit more testing to figure out why. Can one of you come to the lab for a blood test? You might want to bring a bucket."

"I'll go," Ichigo said. "Kisshu, you should go back to bed."

She knew he was feeling awful when he just nodded. "I'll get the other bucket," he said, and teleported out. Ichigo emptied the one he'd been using, and followed Pai to the lab with it.

Once there, she sat down with the bucket in her lap while Pai took some of her blood. She managed not to throw up till he was done, but then felt sick again, and threw up into the bucket.

Pai waited till she was done, and said, "I'll run some tests, you should go back to bed like Kisshu."

"Okay," Ichigo said. She walked back to the bathroom, emptied the bucket, and went to Kisshu's room. He was still awake, and sitting on the bed with the bucket he had taken on his lap. "Pai's going to do some tests on my blood," she told him.

"Good, maybe he'll be able to find a cure too," Kisshu said. "I guess we should get some rest."

Ichigo nodded, and got into bed with Kisshu. She was about to lie back like Kisshu, but had to grab her bucket and throw up before lying back. Finally she finished, and laid back. Kisshu was half-asleep, and soon they were both fast asleep.

A few hours later, they were woken by someone shaking them. Unfortunately, the shaking movement really didn't help their stomachs, and both of them sat bolt upright, grabbed the buckets, and threw up at exactly the same time. When they finished, they both gave Pai identical death glares.

"Sorry, but I figured you'd want to know the results of the tests," Pai said.

"What is it?" Kisshu asked.

Pai looked grim as he said, "Deep Blue again. He probably realized that he can't kill you two, and is settling for keeping you out of commission until he's awakened. As far as I can tell, this particular illness will last about five days, which suggests to me that Deep Blue will probably be awakened sometime next week. And as far as I can tell, there's no way to stop him. Not without killing his missing human host."

"Great…" Kisshu said. "Any suggestions on what we should do?"

"You and Ichigo should rest up and focus on getting better," Pai said. "I'll go talk to Keiichiro and the Mews, and inform them of the situation. At least we know roughly when we'll be fighting."

"Okay," Ichigo said.

Kisshu was less than happy with that response. "What are we going to do if we're out of shape?" he asked Pai. "Isn't there a cure for this?"

"No," Pai said. "And you won't be out of shape. Ever since you got your teleporting ability back, you've been getting stronger. And Ichigo's the same. I know you've both been training, so I think you'll be fine. You're both very strong."

"I hope you're right, Pai," Kisshu said. "Fine. We'll focus on healing, and you and the others focus on getting ready for the battle."

"Good," Pai said, and teleported out.

Kisshu groaned. "I hate just lying in bed all day," he said.

"It's not fun, especially when your stomach feels this awful," Ichigo agreed.

Kisshu nodded, feeling his stomach heave again. He quickly grabbed the bucket and threw up into it. He felt Ichigo rubbing his back for about a minute, before he heard her get sick as well. "Pai shaking us didn't really help," he said when he was finished.

Ichigo nodded. She finished and replied, "That felt like my stomach was going to explode or something."

"It's strange that this doesn't hurt, it just feels like there's a mixer in the pit of my stomach," Kisshu said.

"I'm glad it doesn't hurt, that would make this worse," Ichigo said. "What should we do now? I'm not tired anymore."

"Play a game?" Kisshu asked. "We could play a word game, then we wouldn't have to worry about cards and stuff."

"How about Twenty Questions?" Ichigo suggested.

"That's where you pick a category and say, "I'm thinking of a…" and the other person has to guess, right?" Kisshu asked.

"Yeah," Ichigo said. "Want to try it?"

"Sure, can I go first?" Kisshu asked.

"Yeah," Ichigo said. "What's the category?"

"Animals," Kisshu said.

"Okay, is it black?" Ichigo asked.

"No," Kisshu said.

"Is it a mammal?"

"Yes."

"Is it brown?"

"Yes."

"Is it a bear?"

"HOW DID YOU KNOW!?"

"I'm good at this game," Ichigo said. Her smile faded as she turned slightly green and grabbed her bucket, throwing up. When she was finished, she said, "My dad used to play with me. I'd cream him every single time, and he was such a sore loser."

Kisshu looked at her, and said, "You miss them, don't you?"

"Yeah, I really do," Ichigo said. "I even miss how totally overprotective my dad was. And my mom was the nicest person on Earth."

"Wow…" Kisshu said. "My parents died when I was about five, and I still miss them. I guess it's one of those things that never changes."

"I guess so," Ichigo said. "I never expected my parents would die before I moved out. I guess I always thought that I'd grow up, move out, and stay in touch, but they'd be there. Now they can't see me as I become an adult."

"I know," Kisshu said. "But I think both our parents would be proud of us. We're doing what we think is right, and we're trying to save two races. And I believe that we'll succeed."

"So do I," Ichigo said softly. "I just wish I could have said goodbye."

"Yeah," Kisshu said. "My parents died in a rockslide, and I wasn't allowed to see their bodies, since I was only five. Pai and Taruto's family took me in after that, but I wish I could have said goodbye."

"I guess we're alike in that respect," Ichigo said. "I just wish that I could have protected my parents. I had the power then, but I couldn't save them."

"Sometimes it's just not possible," Kisshu said. "I wish I could have stopped the rockslide that killed my parents. You wish you had been conscious before your parents got killed by Ryou. It's probably harder for you, since it was a person who killed your parents, not a natural disaster."

"I wonder if it would have made a difference," Ichigo said. "Even if I had managed to kill Ryou at the time, I'd be sent to jail. That's the reason I joined you, so I could get revenge without going to jail. It worked out well for both of us, though, since we fell in love. And I have to admit I felt a lot different about your motives after seeing my parents dead in their own house."

"I'm glad we formed a truce," Kisshu said.

"Me too," Ichigo said.

"Hey, did you notice we've been talking for this long without feeling sick?" Kisshu said.

"Yeah, I wonder why," Ichigo said. "Not that I'm not grateful, but I thought Pai said we'd be sick for five days."

"Maybe he was wrong," Kisshu said. Then he clutched his stomach, turning green. He grabbed the bucket and threw up.

"Maybe we spoke too soon," Ichigo said, rubbing his back as he got everything out. It wasn't too long before she had to throw up too. When she finished, she looked back at Kisshu.

Kisshu looked at her and said, "I guess Pai was right, and we just got a little break. It was fun while it lasted."

"Let's go back to sleep," Ichigo said. "Sometimes lying still helps a little." She laid back against the pillows, and Kisshu did the same. Soon they were both asleep.

**Okay, I know you'll all hate me for this, but I wanted to see how far I could go with making both of the strongest fighters sick. First Kisshu, then Ichigo, then both. And at least I gave Kisshu a new power and didn't kill Ichigo, right? Review plz. (without flaming)**


	18. Kidnapped!

**Betraying My People Chapter 18:**

**Kidnapped!**

Kisshu and Ichigo woke up at around the same time late that night, since they both felt awful. Kisshu noticed that the room was pitch black, so he snapped his fingers, turning the lights on. Then he grabbed his bucket and threw up. He heard Ichigo doing the same behind him. Finally they both stopped, and Ichigo said, "Thanks for turning the light on, Kisshu. Even I can't see when it's that dark."

"You can see in the dark?" Kisshu asked.

"Cat genes, remember?" Ichigo said.

"Yeah…" Kisshu said. "I can kind of see in the dark, but not fully."

"Cats are nocturnal, so they need to see in the dark," Ichigo said. "I'm only half-cat, so I probably can't see as well as a real cat. Maybe a real cat could have seen in that dark."

"I wonder if it's worth going back to sleep," Kisshu said. "My stomach feels pretty bad right now." As he said that, he felt sick again, and threw up into the bucket on his lap.

Ichigo nodded. "Yeah, I feel pretty awful too," she said. "I guess we might as well stay up. My bucket's pretty full, I think I should go empty it."

"Yeah, mine too," Kisshu said. "I'll come with you."

They both got up, and walked to the door. When Kisshu opened it, they noticed the hallway was pitch black too. "I guess we should teleport," Kisshu said. "I wonder why all the lights are out. Pai usually leaves the hall light on at night."

"Strange," Ichigo said. Kisshu took her hand and teleported to the bathroom. It was pitch black in there as well, and Kisshu quickly turned the light on, as both he and Ichigo felt their stomachs heave from the teleportation. Ichigo ran to the toilet and Kisshu grabbed his bucket. Ichigo emptied her bucket when she was done and Kisshu did the same. "I guess we shouldn't teleport," Kisshu said. "That felt awful."

"Yeah," Ichigo said. "Do you think we should find out why the lights are all out? That doesn't look like normal darkness."

"Yeah, and the power's not off, so there's no reason for it to be that dark," Kisshu said. "I think we should go check on Pai and Taruto. Maybe they know something."

"Okay, but let's bring the buckets, my stomach still doesn't feel good," Ichigo said. She picked up her bucket, and followed Kisshu out to the hall.

Kisshu snapped his fingers, and the hall light flickered on. "Pai's room is down here, and Taruto's is across from him," Kisshu said. "Let's try Pai's, I think Taruto was spending the night with Pudding."

Ichigo followed him to a door, and watched as he knocked. She noticed the door that said 'Taruto's Room. Keep Out' was open, so she assumed Kisshu was right, Taruto was with Pudding.

"Pai's not answering," Kisshu said, after first knocking, then banging. "I'll try telepathy." He closed his eyes and said telepathically, _Pai, are you okay?_

He waited, then heard Pai's voice in his head. _Kisshu, you and Ichigo have to be careful! Someone kidnapped me and Taruto, and we don't know who it is!_

_Are the Mews there? _Kisshu asked.

_No, _Pai said. _Get Keiichiro on this, and hurry!_

_I'm on it, _Kisshu said, and felt the connection snap. He turned to Ichigo. "Pai and Taruto were kidnapped by someone," he said. "We should call Keiichiro, he needs to know."

"Okay, do you need my cell phone?" Ichigo asked.

"Yeah, let's go back to our room," Kisshu said. They quickly walked back to their room, and Ichigo got her cell phone. She dialed the number, but handed the phone to Kisshu, clapping a hand over her mouth. Kisshu took the phone as Ichigo threw up again.

Kisshu waited as the phone rang. Finally Keiichiro picked up and said, "Do you have any idea what time it is?"

"No," Kisshu replied. "Pai and Taruto have been kidnapped and I need you to try to find them. Ichigo and I are sick again, and I can't teleport without throwing up."

"You and Ichigo are sick?" Keiichiro asked, concerned.

"Yeah," Kisshu said. "Can you try to find Pai and Taruto, and make sure the other Mews are safe?"

"Sure, I'll get on that," Keiichiro said. "You two take it easy, I'll do everything I can to find Pai and Taruto, and I'll keep you posted."

"Thanks," Kisshu said, and hung up, since he knew he was about to throw up. He handed the phone to Ichigo and grabbed his bucket, then threw up. When he finished, he said, "Keiichiro's going to keep us posted. He told us to take it easy. I hope he can find them."

"I'm sure he will," Ichigo said. "But finding them is one thing, rescuing them is another. And you and I can't help."

Kisshu sighed. "I guess we'll have to hope for the best," he said. "I hate being sick."

"Me too," Ichigo said, as she started to turn green again. She quickly grabbed her bucket and threw up again. When she finished, she said, "This is awful. I hope whoever kidnapped Pai and Taruto doesn't kidnap us."

"I bet if whoever did this knows that we're sick like this, they probably won't want to," Kisshu said. "You and I are both throwing up a lot. I'm sure no one wants their floor getting messy."

"True," Ichigo said. "I guess we'll have to wait it out."

"Yeah…" Kisshu said. He was getting tired, and Ichigo noticed.

"Do you think we should go back to sleep?" Ichigo said. "You're looking pretty tired, and I'm getting tired too."

Kisshu simply nodded in response; he was feeling sick again. He grabbed his bucket, and put it on his lap just in time. He could feel Ichigo rubbing his back, but it didn't help much this time. _Not that it doesn't feel nice, _he thought as he felt more stuff coming.

Ichigo was worried; Kisshu had been throwing up for nearly five minutes. Just as it looked like he was about to stop, he coughed up more stuff. Ichigo noticed he was coughing, and saw him spit out what looked like a small black ball. After that he stopped. "My stomach feels a little better," he said.

"You coughed up something that looked like a little black ball," Ichigo said. "I wonder if that's what's causing this?"

"I don't know," Kisshu said. Ichigo started to say something else, but felt her own stomach heave, and looked for the bucket. Kisshu handed it to her before she threw up on the bed, luckily.

Kisshu watched, remembering Ichigo's observations. He rubbed her back as she continued to cough stuff up. Finally he saw a little black ball come out of her mouth too, and she stopped throwing up soon after. "I saw the same thing," he told her. "How's your stomach now?"

"I think it's a little better," Ichigo said. "Let's get some sleep, we can worry about it in the morning."

Kisshu laid back and Ichigo did the same. They feel back to sleep soon after.

_**Next morning: **_ Ichigo woke up first, and looked over at Kisshu. He was still sleeping, and he looked peaceful. She smiled and smoothed his hair out of his face, amazed at how soft it was. She continued stroking his hair, unaware that he was waking up.

Kisshu woke up slightly to find Ichigo playing with his hair. He tried to keep the smirk off his face as he pretended to be asleep. When he judged the moment was right, he smirked and opened his eyes, then rolled over and started tickling her. She squeaked and started laughing. Then she began to tickle him back.

Ichigo didn't realize Kisshu was awake till he started tickling her, but she immediately started tickling him back. He started laughing too, and finally said, "I give! You win, Koneko-chan."

"Yay!" Ichigo said. Suddenly her smile faded; her stomach was acting up again. "Kisshu, you should let go, I'm not feeling good," she said. Kisshu immediately let her go, so she turned over and threw up into the bucket on the floor. When she turned back, Kisshu was turning green, and soon he was throwing up too. "I thought we were starting to get better," she commented when he was done.

Kisshu sighed and said, "So did I. I guess we were wrong about those little black balls."

Ichigo sat up, and Kisshu did the same. "I think we should stay in here," Kisshu said. "We shouldn't go too far from each other, in case the kidnapper comes back."

"Good plan," Ichigo said. "What should we do about going to empty the buckets?"

"I guess we just go together," Kisshu said. "It's not like we're taking our clothes off, so it's fine, right?"

"Yeah," Ichigo said. "Should we go now? I think both buckets are pretty full again. And I could use some water."

"Okay," Kisshu said. "Let's keep your cell phone close, too. Keiichiro could call anytime."

"Good idea," Ichigo said, and put the cell phone in her pocket. Then she picked up her bucket and went to the bathroom, followed by Kisshu.

Soon after they got back to their room, Ichigo's cell phone rang. "Keiichiro," she told Kisshu, picking up.

"What's the news?" she asked.

"Pai and Taruto are trapped in another dimension," Keiichiro said grimly. "I'm calling all the Mews, and I think I found a way in. How are you and Kisshu?"

"Our stomachs are still pretty upset," Ichigo said. "We're going to stay close to each other in case the kidnapper comes here, though. We don't want to get separated."

"Good," Keiichiro said. "I'll let you know when I know more."

"Thanks," Ichigo said. "I have to go, I'm feeling sick again."

"Bye," Keiichiro said. Ichigo hung up, and quickly grabbed her bucket, throwing up as she handed Kisshu the phone. As soon as she was done, she said, "Keiichiro said they're trapped in another dimension, and he thinks he found a way in," Ichigo told Kisshu. "He's calling the Mews together, and he'll let us know when he knows more."

"Good," Kisshu said. "As long as he keeps us posted." Kisshu was feeling sick again, so he grabbed his bucket and threw up.

"We're really not doing too well, are we?" Ichigo asked when Kisshu was done.

"Not so much," Kisshu admitted. "I almost wish Deep Blue would just fight us and have done with it, instead of making you and me sick. He's supposedly all-powerful, so why does he need to keep us down?"

"Maybe he's not actually powerful enough to defeat all of us when you and I can fight," Ichigo suggested. "It would explain why he keeps trying to take us down before awakening."

"You've got a point there," Kisshu said. "If he's afraid of us, he needs a way to take us out without fighting."

"Pretty cowardly, if you ask me," Ichigo said.

"Yeah," Kisshu said. "Strange, thinking that the supposed 'saviour' of the Cyniclons is a coward."

"Hey, I just noticed that we can both still move around," Ichigo said. "We're not getting weaker yet. What if we tried healing each other?"

"That's a great idea!" Kisshu said.

"I'll try healing you first," Ichigo said. "Lie down, k?"

Kisshu nodded and laid down on the bed. Ichigo came over, and transformed. She put her hands on Kisshu's stomach, and began to glow pink. The glow, as usual, flowed into Kisshu until it was gone. Ichigo took her hands off Kisshu's stomach, and said, "How does that feel?"

"I feel great, thanks Koneko-chan!" Kisshu said. Then he noticed she was looking a little unsteady. Then she detransformed, and she seemed to be a bit steadier. "What happened?" he asked her.

"My cat senses were making me feel sick," Ichigo said. Suddenly she clapped a hand over her mouth. Kisshu grabbed a bucket and handed it to her. She took it and put it on the floor, then fell to her knees and doubled up over the bucket as she threw up.

Kisshu was worried by this, and came over. He started rubbing her back gently as she got everything out.

Five minutes later, she finally stopped heaving. She took a deep breath and said, "I feel pretty awful right now."

"Lie down, I'll try to heal you," Kisshu said. He helped her up and to the bed, where she laid down. Kisshu put his hands on her stomach, and began to glow soft green. Like with Ichigo, his glow flowed into her body, until it was gone. He gently took his hands off her stomach and said, "Are you feeling better?"

"I think so," Ichigo said. "Jeez, sometimes I hate having cat senses." She sat up. "I feel fine, thanks Kisshu!" she said.

Kisshu smiled. "We probably shouldn't eat for a while though," he said. "Let's go empty the buckets, and we can tell Keiichiro that we're better."

"Okay!" Ichigo said, smiling.

**Okay, that's it for tonight. Plz review! **


	19. Rescue Operation

**Betraying My People Chapter 19:**

**Rescue Operation**

After emptying the buckets, Kisshu and Ichigo went back to their room. Ichigo picked up her cell phone and dialed Keiichiro's number. "Hello?" Keiichiro said.

"Hi Keiichiro," Ichigo said.

"Hi Ichigo, how are you and Kisshu?" Keiichiro asked.

"Better, we healed each other," Ichigo replied.

"Can you come to the Café?" Keiichiro asked. "I'm calling all the Mews together right now."

"I think so," Ichigo said. "Let me ask." She turned to Kisshu and asked, "Can you teleport?"

"Yeah," Kisshu said.

Ichigo turned back to the phone and said, "We'll be there soon, call the others."

"Will do," Keiichiro said, and hung up.

Ichigo turned back to Kisshu and said, "Let's get dressed, and go."

Kisshu nodded, and grabbed some clothes, then went to change. Ichigo stayed and changed in the room, then transformed. Kisshu came back a minute later, and asked, "Ready?"

Ichigo nodded, so Kisshu took her hand and teleported to the Café. Keiichiro was waiting in the main room with Kasumi, and he as soon as he saw them, he said, "The others will be here soon. Are you both okay to fight?"

"Hai," Ichigo and Kisshu said.

"Good, I think we'll need all the help we can get," Keiichiro said. "I still can't figure out who did this, but the only one I can think of is Deep Blue. I guess if it is him, that means he's been awakened. I hope this isn't a trap."

"I hope not too," Ichigo said. "But if it isn't, why kidnap Pai and Taruto?"

"I guess you'll find out when you get there," Keiichiro said.

Soon after, the rest of the Mews ran in, already transformed. "Good, you're all here," Keiichiro said. "I made a portal to the dimension where Pai and Taruto are being held, so come with me. It's in the basement."

Everyone followed him downstairs. Keiichiro went to a small machine and pressed a button, and a portal opened up. "Good luck, minna," he said.

The others nodded, and jumped into the portal.

They all landed in a deserted hallway, and cautiously looked around. "We should split up," Kisshu said. "A large group will attract attention."

Ichigo and the others nodded, and they split into pairs. Kisshu and Ichigo, Zakuro and Pudding, and Mint and Lettuce. Kasumi went with Zakuro and Pudding. "Let's meet back here in an hour," Kisshu said. He took out one of his swords, and carved an 'X' into the wall. "We'll know this is the spot by looking for this X," he said. "Let's get going."

The others nodded, and went off in different directions.

_**With Kisshu and Ichigo: **_They came to a staircase, and looked at each other. Then they started walking up it.

_**With Lettuce and Mint: **_Mint saw a door, and said, "Should we check what's in there?"

Lettuce nodded, and they opened the door. Almost immediately, a cage fell on them, trapping them! "Hey! Who did that?" Mint yelled. Her only answer was a dark chuckle, and then silence. She and Lettuce looked at each other. "I hope the others are okay," Lettuce said.

_**With Zakuro, Kasumi and Pudding: **_ They too came to a door, and Zakuro pressed an ear against it. "There's a voice in there," she whispered. "It's a man's voice, but it doesn't sound familiar to me." Suddenly her eyes widened. "I can hear a fainter voice, and it sounds like Taruto!" she said.

"Should we go in, or get the others?" Kasumi asked.

"Let's go in, but be careful," Zakuro said. She quietly opened the door, and peeked in. Almost immediately, a hand shot out and grabbed her by the throat, then yanked her into the room, and slammed the door. Kasumi and Pudding heard a click, and knew that the door was locked. They looked at each other, worried.

"Should we break the door down, na no da?" Pudding asked.

"Hai," Kasumi said. The two girls slammed themselves into the door, but it didn't budge. They tried again, but it was like trying to move a wall of stone. Finally they stopped, and looked at each other. "Kasumi-oneechan, what about your daggers, na no da?" Pudding asked.

"It's worth a try," Kasumi said, and called out, "Mist Daggers!" Her daggers appeared in her hands, and she crossed them, then shouted, "Ribon… Mist Flame!" A burst of fire attacked the door, and it collapsed into ashes. Kasumi and Pudding waited for the smoke to clear, then ran in. To their shock, the room was now empty. "Whoever grabbed Zakuro must have teleported," Kasumi said. The girls turned back- only to find that the door was replaced by bars. "This WAS a trap after all," Kasumi said grimly. "I hope the others are okay."

_**Back with Kisshu and Ichigo: **_The two of them reached the top of the staircase, unaware of the fate of the others. There was another hallway, and at the end was a door. They kept walking, and reached the door. "I hear voices in there," Ichigo said.

"Let's get out our weapons and go in," Kisshu said. Ichigo nodded, and called on her Strawberry Blade while Kisshu got out his Dragon Swords. Then he opened the door, and they went in.

What they saw shocked them. Pai, Taruto and Zakuro were tied up together, and a Cyniclon with long black hair and ice blue eyes was standing over them, holding a sword. He looked up as Ichigo and Kisshu came in, and said, "Good, you're here. Now you can watch me kill your friends."

"We're not just going to sit around and watch you kill them, we're going to take you down," Kisshu snarled. "I suppose you trapped the others too?"

"Very good," the Cyniclon said with an evil smile. "I knew I couldn't take you all on, so once I realized the illnesses weren't working, I lured you all here, and trapped the others until I could get you two alone. Now I'll be able to defeat you two for good!"

"You seriously think we'll go down that easily?" Ichigo asked incredulously. "You make it sound like we're just going to hand ourselves over willingly."

"I have your friends," Deep Blue said. "I can kill them well before you even reach me. What are you going to do?"

Kisshu and Ichigo froze; he was right. Deep Blue noticed their hesitation and smirked. "I thought so," he said. "I knew if that I had your brothers as hostages, you'd be unable to attack me."

"What is it that you want?" Ichigo asked. "I don't think you're doing all this for no reason."

"I want the Earth," Deep Blue said. "I could care less about those living on it. So I used the Cyniclons to get started on eliminating the humans. I didn't expect anyone to realize that I never had any intention of saving anyone. The Cyniclons and humans alike could die out, but at least I'd have the Earth."

Kisshu growled low in his throat, his eyes starting to glow. Suddenly Deep Blue started to look less smug. Not yet concerned, but certainly less smug. Then Kisshu lifted a hand, and snapped his fingers. The ropes on Pai, Taruto and Zakuro snapped, and they woke up. Pai immediately noticed that a confrontation was going on, and grabbed Zakuro, then teleported out of the way, followed by Taruto.

The battle was beginning….

**Okay, I know it's short and filler, but I wanted to put in one more chapter before I got to the final battle with Deep Blue. Plz review and I'll start the next chapter soon.**


	20. A New Journey

**Betraying My People Chapter 20:**

**A New Journey**

Pai, Taruto and Zakuro came to stand with Kisshu and Ichigo. Suddenly there was a loud POP, and the other Mews appeared behind them. Now Deep Blue looked concerned. Kisshu noticed, and smirked. "Now what will YOU do?" he asked. "All of us are here, and free. Can you really fight all nine of us?"

"I am a GOD! I can do anything!" Deep Blue screamed. He drew his sword, and lunged at Kisshu, who took out his Dragon Swords and caught the sword's blade between his. Deep Blue pulled back, and Kisshu lunged. Deep Blue raised his blade just in time to stop Kisshu from cutting his arm off. Kisshu snarled, and with his other sword, stabbed Deep Blue in the shoulder, causing him to drop the sword.

Kisshu kicked Deep Blue's sword out of reach, and Deep Blue backed up as Kisshu lunged. Kisshu crossed his Dragon Swords, then formed an energy blast, and sent it at Deep Blue, who dodged it. Kisshu took advantage of his distraction and lunged forward again, then teleported. He reappeared straight in front of Deep Blue, one sword pressed against his neck, the other poised over his heart. Deep Blue went still, and Kisshu smirked. Then he stabbed Deep Blue through the heart, and at the same time, slit his throat.

Deep Blue let out a choked scream, and as Kisshu jumped back, collapsed. Before anyone could do anything else, Deep Blue's body suddenly went up in smoke.

When the smoke cleared, the body was gone. In its place was something that looked like a ball made of pale blue glass. "What is that?" Ichigo asked.

Pai replied, "It's Mew Aqua, and a lot of it. This is great! We can heal our planet!"

Everyone cheered. Ichigo went to Kisshu and said, "You were amazing, Kisshu."

"Thanks, Koneko-chan," Kisshu said happily. He picked up the large ball of Mew Aqua, and said, "Let's go back, minna."

Pai nodded and said, "All of you grab one of us. We're going back to the Café."

The Mews obeyed, and they all teleported back to the Café's basement. They found Keiichiro at one of the computers, and he spun when he heard them. "How'd it go? Are you all okay?" he asked.

"We're fine," Kisshu said with a grin. "And I killed Deep Blue, so we don't have to worry about him anymore."

"Wow, that's amazing," Keiichiro said. "Hey, is that Mew Aqua?"

"Yeah, Deep Blue's body went up in smoke, and when the smoke cleared, this is what was left," Kisshu said.

"I guess that means we won't need the sensor," Keiichiro said. "But I'm glad you're all safe. What will you do now?"

"I think our first priority is to save our planet," Pai said. "We'll see how that goes. If we get exiled, we'll definitely be coming back, but if not, we might not be back too often. I think we'll still visit, though."

"Well, I wish you luck," Keiichiro said. "Ichigo, are you going with them?"

"Hai," Ichigo said. "I don't really have anything left on Earth, it's better that I go with them. Besides, I can't live without Kisshu."

"Aw, thanks," Kisshu said. "I couldn't live without you either."

Ichigo smiled and said, "Should we get going?"

"Hai," Pai said. "We should find a safe place on the ship for the Mew Aqua."

"Do you want a box for it?" Keiichiro asked. "I have one."

"Sure, thanks," Pai said. Keiichiro smiled and went to get it. He brought the box back and gave it to Pai, who put the Mew Aqua inside it. "We should go," Pai said. "Thank you all for all your help."

"You're welcome," Keiichiro said. "And good luck."

"Thanks," Pai said.

Pudding glomped Taruto, and said, "I'll miss you, Taru-Taru!"

Taruto turned red and said, "I-I'll miss you too, Pudding."

The others smiled at the cute couple, but finally it was time to leave. Kisshu took Ichigo's hand, and teleported back to the ship, followed by Pai and Taruto.

They landed in the main room, and Pai said, "Taruto, you're my copilot, so meet me in the control room."

Taruto sighed, but teleported out. Pai turned to Kisshu and Ichigo and said, "You two should go back to your room, I'll let you know when we land. And don't go too far, got it?"

"How many times are you going to tell us that?" Kisshu asked irritably. "We've never given you a reason to believe we'd go any further than kissing, have we?"

Pai sighed. "I just worry about you," he muttered. "Lovesick people make mistakes. I don't want that to happen to you."

Kisshu sighed and said, "I won't go too far, and neither will Ichigo. You should go to the control room, I bet Taruto's getting impatient. I promise not to do anything beyond kissing."

"Okay," Pai said. He teleported out, and Kisshu teleported Ichigo to their room.

They landed on the bed, and Kisshu sighed. "Pai's such a worrywart," he complained.

"I guess it's just because he cares," Ichigo said.

Kisshu sighed again, then said, "I'm tired, can we go to sleep for a while? It's about an eight hour flight."

"Sure," Ichigo said. She and Kisshu got under the covers and curled up together. Kisshu fell asleep immediately, but Ichigo lay awake for a while longer, watching him. _I guess the battle tired him out, _she thought. _I'm not really tired, though, but I wasn't the one fighting. _She started stroking Kisshu's hair gently, and he leaned into her hand. To her surprise, he made a noise that sounded somewhat like her purring. _That's odd, _she thought, continuing to stroke his hair. _I didn't know Cyniclons could purr. It's cute, though. _Eventually, Kisshu's purring put her to sleep.

A while later, Pai woke Ichigo up, and said, "Why is Kisshu making that noise?"

"I don't know, he sounds like me when I'm purring," Ichigo said. "You're saying this isn't normal?"

"I've never heard him make that sound before," Pai said. "I hope it's nothing bad."

"I doubt it," Ichigo said. "I make that noise when I'm happy."

"I guess," Pai said. "I actually came to tell you two that we landed, so will you wake up Kisshu?"

"Sure," Ichigo said. She shook Kisshu's shoulder, and said, "Kisshu, time to get up, we're here."

Kisshu sleepily opened his eyes. "K…" he said.

"Kisshu, are you feeling okay?" Pai asked.

"I'm tired, but other than that, I'm feeling fine," Kisshu replied. "Why?"

"You were purring," Pai said. "And it's not exactly normal for you to be tired for this long."

"I was purring?" Kisshu asked.

"Yeah, after you fell asleep, I started stroking your hair, and you started purring," Ichigo said. "I think it's cute."

"Wow," Kisshu said. "But why would I be purring?"

"I don't know," Pai admitted. "Maybe later on, I'll see what I can find out. Right now, we've been called to meet with the Council."

Kisshu and Ichigo both jumped out of bed, and started getting their hair and clothes in order. Then Kisshu teleported himself and Ichigo out of the ship, and landed in a barren wasteland. Surprisingly, there were a large number of Cyniclons waiting. Pai and Taruto teleported out soon after, Pai holding the box of Mew Aqua.

As soon as they landed, an older Cyniclon woman came forward, and said, "What news do you have?"

Pai bowed and replied respectfully, "Good and bad, Siria-sama. Deep Blue told us that he never intended to help us, and wanted Earth for himself. He also tried to kill Kisshu and Ichigo numerous times, and kidnapped both me and Taruto to use as bait for the others."

Siria-sama said, "I was afraid of that. Ikisatashi Aran came to the Council two weeks ago, saying that you had come back and informed him that Deep Blue was only using us. May I ask why you did not simply come to me yourself?"

"I apologize," Pai said. "It was very late at night when I arrived, and I did not wish to disturb others. Also, we had pressing matters to attend to on Earth, namely killing Deep Blue."

"I see," Siria-sama said. "And how did that go?"

"Kisshu single-handedly killed Deep Blue during the confrontation we had after he was awakened," Pai replied.

Siria-sama looked mildly startled, and turned to Kisshu. "Kisshu, you defeated Deep Blue without help?" she asked.

"Hai," Kisshu said. "I believe that his true reason for trying to kill me and Ichigo was that he knew he wouldn't win against all of us if Ichigo and I could fight."

"Well, thank you," Siria-sama said. "I take it we're all safe from him now?"

"Hai," Pai said. "And we have brought the means to revive this planet, so we no longer need Earth. It would be extremely hard to live there anyways; the planet is quite polluted."

"You have the means to revive the planet? How?" Siria-sama asked.

"Mew Aqua," Pai replied. "We have enough in this box to revive the planet." He opened the box and showed her the large ball of Mew Aqua.

There was a collective gasp among those gathered, and Siria-sama looked startled. "You have that much?" she asked.

"Hai," Pai said. "With your permission, we'd like to show you its power."

Siria-sama nodded, and Pai turned to Kisshu, Ichigo and Taruto, then said, "Let's do it together."

They nodded, and Pai placed the Mew Aqua down. Each of them put a hand on the ball, and added their powers to the Mew Aqua, then pushed it into the barren ground. A blinding flash was the result.

When the flash faded, everyone looked up. There was a loud gasp, and everyone's jaws dropped. They were standing in a field of flowers, and the sun was out. There was a large forest and a stream nearby, and overhead, they saw a flock of birds flying over.

The Cyniclons were in awe, but before they could do anything else, Ichigo said, "Hey, where's Kisshu?"

The others looked around. Kisshu was nowhere to be seen. "What happened?" Pai asked. "He was here a few seconds ago."

Ichigo felt something touch her leg softly, and looked down. A small blackish-green kitten was looking up at her- with golden eyes that looked exactly like Kisshu's. "Guys, I found Kisshu, but there's a problem," she said. When the others turned to her, she picked up the kitten and said, "I think Kisshu somehow turned into a kitten."

Pai came closer, looking shocked. "Kisshu?" he whispered. The kitten mewed and nodded.

"This isn't too good," Taruto said.

"Taruto, that's the understatement of the century," Pai said. "But we need to find out why this happened."

"What if it was the Mew Aqua?" Ichigo asked. "Kisshu was acting like a cat earlier, and he's the one who's had the most direct contact with it. What if it somehow turned him into a cat?"

"I didn't even think that was possible," Pai said. "But I can't think of another explanation, unless he somehow had cat genes from hanging out with you, and the Mew Aqua activated them."

"Then why didn't I turn into a cat?" Ichigo asked.

"Maybe because you have control over that half of you and Kisshu doesn't," Pai said. "The problem is, I don't know how to turn him back!"

"I'm sure you'll figure it out," Ichigo said. She was still cradling Kisshu in her arms, and he rolled over and reached a paw up.

"Why is he doing that?" Pai asked.

"I've got a theory," Ichigo said. "Let's see if I'm right." She put Kisshu down and untied one of her hair ribbons, then dangled it in front of Kisshu's nose. Kisshu started batting at it, and Ichigo said, "Cats like things like ribbons to play with. They see them moving and chase them, or bat at them like Kisshu's doing." She raised the ribbon a little higher, and Kisshu jumped, biting it. Ichigo wiggled the ribbon, and Kisshu put his paws on it, trying to keep it. Ichigo giggled and dropped the ribbon. Kisshu looked at it, and saw that it wasn't moving. He let it go.

"Why did he stop?" Taruto asked.

"Because it wasn't moving," Ichigo explained. "Once something stops moving, cats lose interest in it, and go find something else to do."

Kisshu mewed at her, and she picked him back up, scratching his ears. He let out a contented purr, and started to fall asleep.

Siria-sama had been watching all this, and came over. "What should we do?" she asked.

"I will try to find a way to turn Kisshu back, the rest of you can do as you please," Pai said. "Ichigo, what do cats eat?"

"Meat and fish," Ichigo said. "Do we have any on the ship?"

"I think we still have some chicken," Pai said. "I don't think we have fish, though."

"Well, maybe there's some in that stream," Taruto said. "Who's taking care of him?"

"I will," Ichigo said. "Cats in general spend about 19 hours a day sleeping anyways, so it shouldn't be too hard. Although kittens can get pretty hyper."

"Well, we'll leave that to you, then," Siria-sama said. "You seem to know quite a bit about cats."

"I'm half cat, and I always loved them," Ichigo said. "Still, I never expected my boyfriend to turn into one."

Siria-sama sighed and turned back to Pai. "I guess Ichigo will be living with your family?" she asked.

"I assume so, unless they have objections," Pai said. "Are they here?"

"We're here," Hamaya said, coming out of the crowd with Aran. "We'd be happy to have Ichigo, since she's taken such good care of you all."

"Thank you," Ichigo said.

Hamaya and Aran smiled, and Aran said, "I think you should call us Uncle Aran and Aunt Hamaya like Kisshu does. Technically, we're adopting you as well."

"Thanks, Uncle Aran," Ichigo said.

"Where's your belongings?" Aunt Hamaya asked.

"On the ship," Ichigo said.

"I'll bring your stuff and Kisshu's," Pai said. "You don't seem to have a lot, Ichigo."

"I took what I could carry when I left," Ichigo explained. "I didn't want to take too much in case I had a lot of trouble finding Kisshu."

"That's true," Pai said. "Well, I'll go get that stuff and bring it to our home. Mom, Dad, you should take Ichigo and Kisshu back, I'll be by soon."

"Okay," Uncle Aran said. "Follow us, Ichigo."

Ichigo nodded, and carrying Kisshu, who was sleeping, she followed her new family to their home.

**Well, this is an interesting twist. Kisshu is now a kitten! Will Pai figure out how to turn him back? Or will he stay a kitten forever? The only way to find out is to review! I want at least three reviews or more before I update!**


	21. Kitten Kisshu

**Betraying My People Chapter 21:**

**Kitten Kisshu**

Uncle Aran led Ichigo to the room she had been in last time, after Kisshu's teleporting mistake. "You and Kisshu are sharing," he said. "I hope you don't mind."

"Not at all, I've been sharing with him for months," Ichigo said. She set Kisshu down on the futon, and watched as he curled up into a little ball. "He's just like a real kitten," she commented softly.

"We had a pet once," Uncle Aran said. "It was a clarut, similar to a cat. I think we still have his bed and litterbox, should I get them?"

"Good idea," Ichigo said. "I'll stay with Kisshu, if that's okay."

"Sure," Uncle Aran said. He teleported out, and Ichigo sat down on the futon, then began petting Kisshu. He purred and stretched in his sleep. Uncle Aran teleported back in with the bed and litterbox, and said, "I wonder if he could eat clarut food?"

"I don't know," Ichigo said. "We could try it, do you have some?"

"No, but our friends might," Uncle Aran said. "I'll have Hamaya ask around. Why don't you set up the litterbox and bed?"

"Sure," Ichigo said. She started doing that as Uncle Aran teleported out. When she was done, she went back to petting Kisshu. A while later, he started to wake up, and said, "Nya?"

"Hi Kisshu," Ichigo said. "I set up the things Uncle Aran gave me for you, they're over there." She pointed to the corner of the room nearest the futon. Kisshu looked at them, then looked back at her. "Nyaaa…." he said.

"You can still sleep with me if you want," Ichigo said. Kisshu mewed sadly.

"What's wrong?" Ichigo asked.

"Myuuuuuuuuu!" Kisshu wailed. Ichigo started scratching his ears, trying to make him feel better. He jumped onto her lap and settled down. She picked him up, cradling him in her arms. "I guess it's not easy being a kitten, huh?" she asked him. Kisshu mewed sadly. "I'm sure Pai will figure something out," she reassured him.

Uncle Aran came in and said, "I heard a yowl, is everything okay?"

"Kisshu misses being a Cyniclon," Ichigo said. Kisshu sighed.

Uncle Aran sighed. "There's not much I can do about that," he said. "I found a few toys, though, so you can use them." He handed Ichigo a ball and something that looked like a duster, as well as a bowl. "Hamaya should be back soon with food," he said. Kisshu's ears pricked up at the word 'food'. "Nya?" he asked.

"I hope it's something you can eat," Ichigo said. "Uncle Aran said they'd be getting clarut food."

"Myu," Kisshu said.

Ichigo smiled and picked up the duster toy, putting Kisshu down. She shook the hanging part around, and Kisshu batted at it half-heartedly. "You're pretty depressed, huh?" Ichigo asked.

Kisshu sighed again. Aunt Hamaya came in and said, "I got a bag of clarut food, should we see if Kisshu can eat it?"

"Sure, maybe food will cheer him up," Ichigo said. "He's pretty depressed about being a kitten."

Aunt Hamaya sighed, and filled the bowl with food. Kisshu went over and poked it with a paw. "Kisshu, you're supposed to eat the food, not play with it," Aunt Hamaya said.

Kisshu looked at the food sadly. "Aren't you hungry?" Ichigo asked. Kisshu shook his head.

"Maybe I should go see if Pai's found anything," Uncle Aran said. "You two stay here and try to cheer Kisshu up."

Aunt Hamaya sat down on the floor with Ichigo as Uncle Aran teleported out. Kisshu looked at her listlessly. Then he curled up on Ichigo's lap again. "I hope he's not sick or something," Aunt Hamaya said. "The Kisshu I know is always hungry."

"I don't think he is, but I can check," Ichigo said. She put a finger on Kisshu's chest, and closed her eyes. Finally she said, "He's not sick as far as I can tell. I think he's just depressed. And that's just as bad."

Aunt Hamaya reached out and started petting Kisshu. He didn't seem to notice. Pai and Uncle Aran teleported back in, and Pai said, "How's Kisshu?"

"He's really depressed," Ichigo said. "He won't even eat, and he's definitely not interested in playing. I'm worried about him. Have you found anything?"

"No," Pai said. "Maybe I can sense why Kisshu's so depressed; this doesn't seem like him." He came over and sat down, then put a finger on Kisshu's forehead and closed his eyes. Finally he said, "I think he's worried."

"About what?" Ichigo asked.

"Two things," Pai said. "One, he's afraid that he won't get to go back to normal, but two, he's afraid you'll stop loving him if he remains a cat."

Ichigo looked down at the kitten in her lap. "Kisshu, how could you think that?" she asked. "I'll never stop loving you, no matter what you are. I love you, and it doesn't matter to me whether you're a cat or a Cyniclon, you're still you."

Kisshu just sighed. Ichigo looked at Pai, worried. "I think we need to do something soon, or he'll just wither away," she said.

"You're right, I've _never _seen him this depressed," Pai said. "But I don't know what to do."

"Maybe a kiss will make him feel better," Ichigo said. "That usually works." She picked up Kisshu and kissed him on the nose. About a minute later, she broke it off and put him back on her lap. He curled back up, but suddenly began to glow. As the others watched, he started to go back to his normal form.

Finally Kisshu was back to being a Cyniclon, but he was sound asleep. Ichigo gently put a hand on his forehead, and said, "No fever, I guess we just wait for him to wake up."

"Okay, let's put him to bed," Pai said. He picked up Kisshu and tucked him into the futon bed. "Ichigo, you'd better stay," Pai said.

"I will," Ichigo said. Pai nodded and left, followed by Aunt Hamaya and Uncle Aran.

About an hour later, Kisshu started to wake up. "Kisshu, are you feeling okay?" Ichigo asked softly.

Kisshu looked at her, and asked, "Ichigo? Do you still love me?"

"Of course!" Ichigo said, somewhat hurt. "What would make you doubt that?"

"I'm a cat," Kisshu said gloomily.

"And I'm half cat, so that makes us perfect for each other," Ichigo said firmly. "Besides, didn't you notice that you're back to normal?"

"I am?" Kisshu asked, sitting up and looking at himself. "I guess you're right," he said.

"Kisshu, do you know why you're so depressed?" Ichigo asked.

"No," Kisshu said. "Are you sure you still love me?"

"Kisshu, I'll _always _love you," Ichigo said. "That's one thing you don't have to worry about."

"Okay," Kisshu said. He still sounded sad.

"Kisshu, I'm thinking I should have Pai look at you," Ichigo said. "This doesn't seem normal. I've never seen you this depressed."

"I don't want you to leave…" Kisshu said.

"I'm not going anywhere without you, I just think we should go talk to Pai," Ichigo said.

"I guess…" Kisshu said. He got up, and Ichigo took his hand. "Let's go ask Aunt Hamaya where he is," she said, pulling him out the door.

They found Aunt Hamaya in the main room, and Ichigo said, "Can you tell us where Pai is?"

"Still at the ship, why?" Aunt Hamaya asked.

"Kisshu's still really depressed, and I was hoping Pai could help us figure out why," Ichigo said. "He was able to sense why Kisshu was depressed earlier."

"I think I can handle that," Aunt Hamaya said. "Pai got that power from me. Kisshu, come over here."

Kisshu walked over to her, and she put a hand on his forehead, then closed her eyes. Finally she said, "Something about being a cat for that long seems to have messed up his emotions."

"Is there a way to fix that?" Ichigo asked.

"Focus on healing his mind, and see if that helps," Aunt Hamaya said. "That's all I can come up with."

Ichigo nodded, and said, "Kisshu, let's go back to our room." Kisshu followed her back to their room, and watched as she transformed. "Okay, I need you to lie down," she told Kisshu.

Kisshu did as she asked. Ichigo knelt next to him, and put a hand on his forehead. Then she closed her eyes, and began to glow. Kisshu fell back to sleep, and Ichigo sighed. Then she focused on healing his mind. Finally, a few minutes later, she took her hand away, and the light show faded. As soon as the lights faded completely, Ichigo put her hand back on Kisshu's forehead, and tried to sense if the problem was gone. His mind seemed fine, so she decided to let him sleep off the healing.

About half an hour later, Kisshu woke up and noticed Ichigo sitting next to him. "Koneko-chan? What happened?" he asked.

"How are you feeling?" Ichigo asked. "You were pretty depressed earlier."

"I feel fine," Kisshu said. "Hey, how did I get back to normal? I thought I turned into a kitten."

"You did, but I kissed you and it turned you back," Ichigo said. "But when you woke up after that, you were really depressed and kept asking me if I still loved you. Were you worried that I wouldn't love you if you were a cat?"

"I think so," Kisshu said. "I guess I should have known you better. Sorry, Koneko-chan."

"It's fine," Ichigo said. "I guess we're both part cat now. I wonder how that happened?"

"Too much kissing?" Kisshu suggested.

"You think we kissed too much? I thought you thought we didn't kiss enough," Ichigo said.

Kisshu laughed. Ichigo sighed. "I'm glad you're not depressed anymore," she said. "That was kind of scary. I've never seen you that sad about anything."

"Wow," Kisshu said.

**Okay, horrendous chapter ending, but I'm tired, so that's it for tonight. Review Plz!**


	22. Prophecies

**Betraying My People Chapter 22:**

**Prophecies **

There was a knock on the door, and Kisshu called, "Come in!"

Pai opened the door, and immediately asked, "Kisshu, are you feeling better?"

"Yeah, Ichigo healed me again," Kisshu said. "She said I was really depressed earlier."

"I've never seen you that depressed," Pai said. "It was almost scary."

"That's what Ichigo said," Kisshu replied. "But I'm feeling better now, so you don't have to worry."

"Mom said that your emotions got messed up from being a cat," Pai said.

"Did you figure out why I turned into a cat?" Kisshu asked.

"I'd need some of your blood to do a more thorough examination," Pai said. "If you come to the lab, I'll get that done."

Kisshu sighed, and said, "Can Ichigo be there?"

"Yes," Pai said.

Kisshu took Ichigo's hand and teleported to the lab, followed by Pai. "Sit down, it'll only take me a minute," Pai said to Kisshu.

Kisshu did as he was told, and Ichigo stood next to him, taking his hand. Pai stuck the needle in his arm, and he flinched. Luckily, Pai didn't take too long, and soon he was putting a bandage on Kisshu's arm. Pai sighed and said, "I'm going to run some tests. You might as well go back home, it'll probably take a while. I'll let you know what I find."

"Okay," Kisshu said. He took Ichigo's hand and teleported back to the main room of their house. Uncle Aran looked up from the book he was reading, and said, "How are you, Kisshu?"

"I'm fine," Kisshu said. "I still don't like needles, though. Pai wanted to run some tests on my blood to figure out what might have caused me to turn into a kitten."

"Well, if he figures it out, it'll be worth it, right?" Uncle Aran asked.

"I suppose," Kisshu said.

Aunt Hamaya suddenly teleported in, and said, "Kisshu, you and Ichigo have been summoned to meet with the Council!"

"We're on our way," Kisshu said. He took Ichigo's hand, and teleported to a large room with two rows of chairs against the far wall. All those chairs were occupied, and Kisshu went down on one knee, Ichigo copying him. Siria-sama was sitting in the center of the first row, and she said, "The Council has some questions for both of you. You may rise."

Ichigo and Kisshu stood up, and waited for the Council members to speak.

Siria-sama spoke first, and said, "Ichigo, I would like to question you first."

"Hai," Ichigo said.

"Why did you join Kisshu?" Siria-sama asked.

"The man who created the Mew Mews was an extremely nasty person, and when I quit, he murdered my parents and tried to brainwash me," Ichigo said. "His brainwashing machine didn't work on me, and I remembered everything. When I found out he had killed my parents, I left home and went to find Kisshu, and he let me join him. I figured I'd have a better chance at killing my parent's murderer if I joined Kisshu."

"Was that the only reason you stayed?" Siria-sama asked.

"No, after a while I realized that I was in love with Kisshu, and it's a good thing I stayed, because I was able to save him when Deep Blue got him sick the first time," Ichigo said.

"You have the ability to heal?" Siria-sama asked.

"I do," Ichigo said. "And Kisshu does as well. We somehow gained the same power."

"Ichigo, how much do you love Kisshu?" Siria-sama asked, startling both Ichigo and Kisshu.

"I love him more than anything, and I can't live without him," Ichigo said sincerely.

"Kisshu, do you feel the same?" Siria-sama asked.

"Hai, I feel that way about Ichigo," Kisshu said. "May I ask why you wish to know?"

Siria-sama sighed. "There's a prophecy handed down by our people," she said. "It says that a warrior will form an alliance of the heart with a cat girl, and they will protect their races in their time of need. No one has been able to figure out what the prophecy meant by 'cat girl', since there are no cats on this planet. Now that I've heard what you two have to say, I begin to see a meaning in that prophecy. I believe that Kisshu is the warrior, and Ichigo is the cat girl. You both protected Earth and Cyniclonia from Deep Blue's evil, and you're in love with each other."

Kisshu and Ichigo looked shocked; they were part of a prophecy? Finally Kisshu collected himself and asked, "Is there more to the prophecy?"

"Yes, but the last bit is extremely confusing," Siria-sama said. "It says that the warrior and the cat girl will gain each other's powers, but then it says something else, which no one so far has been able to understand."

"Ichigo and I have the same healing powers," Kisshu commented. "What is the part that no one can understand?"

"I don't know, it's not written in our language," Siria-sama said. "It's almost as if the writer didn't want anyone to know what he was writing."

"Do you know what the language is?" Ichigo asked.

"No, but I'm assuming it's from Earth," Siria-sama said. "Do you know any other languages besides Japanese?"

"I can read and write in English, but I'm not good at speaking it," Ichigo said. "I can also read and write in Chinese, I learned it in school."

"Should I show you?" Siria-sama asked.

"If you don't mind," Ichigo said. "I can't promise it's one of those languages, but I'll do my best."

Siria-sama nodded, and said, "Follow me."

Ichigo and Kisshu followed her to a room off the Council room, and watched as she took a large book off of a shelf. She put it down on the table, and started flipping pages. Suddenly she stopped, and said, "Okay, this is the page. The whole prophecy is on this page, but the last line is the one we can't understand."

Ichigo nodded and looked at the last line. It was in English, and Ichigo saw that it said, 'Good luck, Ichigo and Kisshu.' She facepalmed. "No wonder the writer didn't want anyone to read this," she muttered. "No one would take him seriously."

"What does it say?" Siria-sama asked.

"It says, 'Good luck, Ichigo and Kisshu'," Ichigo said. "And it's in English."

Siria-sama and Kisshu facepalmed too, and Siria-sama said, "I can't believe our scholars spent centuries trying to figure that line out, and it turns out to be something like _that._"

"Well, I guess that's one mystery solved," Kisshu said. "Did you have more questions for us?"

"Not at the moment," Siria-sama said. "I've got to go inform the Council of what we found out about the prophecy, so you may go back home."

Kisshu and Ichigo bowed, then Kisshu took Ichigo's hand and teleported.

They landed in the main room of their house again, and Kisshu called, "We're back!"

Aunt Hamaya and Uncle Aran came running, and Aunt Hamaya said, "So what happened?"

"Apparently Ichigo and I are part of some prophecy," Kisshu said.

"So the mystery of the 'cat girl' has been solved?" Uncle Aran asked. "I've heard of that prophecy."

"Yeah, and we also figured out the last line," Ichigo said.

"You could read it?" Aunt Hamaya asked.

"It was in English, and I studied that in school," Ichigo explained.

"What did it say?" Aunt Hamaya asked.

"It said, 'Good luck, Ichigo and Kisshu'," Ichigo said. "I think it was written in English so no one would figure out the meaning."

"_That's _all it said!?" Uncle Aran asked. "That mystery is centuries old, and it's just a message for you two?"

"Yeah, pretty much," Kisshu said. "Who wrote that, anyways?"

"Actually, it was your ancestor, Kisshu," Aunt Hamaya said. "Stands to reason that he knew all that, I suppose."

Kisshu looked startled, and said, "My ancestor was some kind of prophet?"

"Yep," Uncle Aran said. "But he was also considered insane, since most of his prophecies during the time he was alive never came true. That's the only one I know of that came true."

"Great… I've got a madman for an ancestor," Kisshu moaned. "Taruto's NEVER going to let me hear the end of it if he finds out."

"If he becomes a problem, let me know," Aunt Hamaya said.

Kisshu sighed and said, "Ichigo, should we go back to our room?"

"Can we go outside?" Ichigo said. "It looked nice."

"It's nighttime," Uncle Aran said. "And besides, it's also almost dinnertime. I just sent Taruto to drag Pai out of his lab."

"Okay," Ichigo said.

They all ate dinner together, and then Pai went straight back to his lab. Taruto teleported off somewhere too, and Ichigo and Kisshu went back to their room.

"What should we do now?" Kisshu asked. "I'm bored."

"Make out?" Ichigo suggested.

Kisshu grinned and pulled her closer, then kissed her. _POOF! _Suddenly they both noticed everything looked a lot bigger.

"_We're cats right now, aren't we?" _Ichigo asked.

"_Looks like it," _Kisshu sighed.

"_I wonder if it has something to do with emotions," _Ichigo said.

"_Maybe," _Kisshu said._ "Let's try kissing again, and see if it turns us back."_

Ichigo and Kisshu kissed again, and POOF! returned to normal. "I wonder why this is happening now," Ichigo said. "It never happened before."

"I think we should go talk to Pai," Kisshu said. He took her hand and teleported.

They landed in Pai's lab, and Pai looked up, startled. "Oh, it's you," he said. "What's up?"

"Ichigo and I both turned into cats while we were kissing," Kisshu said. "I think we need to find out why this is happening."

"I did the tests on your blood," Pai said. "You somehow have cat genes like Ichigo. Why, I don't know. And I don't know why you can both become cats."

"Is there a way to find out?" Kisshu asked. "Ichigo suggested it might have something to do with our emotions. But I don't want to turn into a cat everytime I kiss Ichigo."

"I might be able to alter your DNA a bit so that wouldn't happen, but I'd have to do some research first," Pai said. "Can I get back to you?"

"Sure, as long as it's before one of us turns into a cat permanently," Kisshu said.

"I'll get to work on that," Pai said. "You two should go back, it's late."

As proof of this, Ichigo yawned. Kisshu smiled and took her hand, then teleported back to their room. "Can we go to sleep now?" Ichigo asked.

"Yeah," Kisshu said.

They took off their shoes, and curled up together on the futon bed. Kisshu pulled a blanket over them, and they both fell asleep.

**Well, Kisshu has cat genes too. And he and Ichigo can turn into cats! I wonder what will happen next…. Review plz!**


	23. Kittens

**Betraying My People Chapter 23:**

**Kittens**

The next morning, Ichigo and Kisshu woke up at about the same time, and noticed the same thing immediately: they both had turned into kittens overnight.

"_This is just great," _Kisshu said sarcastically.

Ichigo sighed. _"Should we try kissing again?" _she asked.

Kisshu went to her and kissed her. Nothing happened. _"Why didn't anything happen? Does this mean we're stuck in cat form for good now?" _Kisshu asked, starting to panic.

"_Calm down, I'm sure there's some way to get back to normal," _Ichigo said.

Then they heard Aunt Hamaya say, "Aren't you two up yet?" She came into the room- and stopped dead when she saw them. "You _both _turned into kittens?" she asked. They nodded. "I'll go get Pai," Aunt Hamaya said. She left, and Kisshu and Ichigo looked at each other. _"Let's hope Pai can get us back to normal," _Ichigo said. Kisshu nodded.

Pai came in a few minutes later, and looked down at them. "Were you two kissing again?" he asked.

Kisshu shook his head. Pai sighed. "I guess I'd better take you to the lab," he said. He picked them both up, and teleported. For some reason, Kisshu's cat instincts didn't like teleporting, and he dug his claws into Pai's hand right as they landed. "OW! Which one of you did that!?" Pai yelled. Ichigo pointed an accusatory paw at Kisshu. "I should have guessed," Pai said darkly. He glared at Kisshu.

Kisshu got nervous, and decided to try acting cute. He mewed at Pai, who, unfortunately, didn't fall for the 'cute kitty' act. "If you're not careful, I'll only turn Ichigo back," Pai threatened. He put the kittens down, and looked at his hand, which had five small claw marks on it. He sighed and said, "Thanks to that, Kisshu will be the one I do the tests on."

"Nyaaaaaa!" Kisshu wailed. Pai was unmoved, and said, "You want to go back to normal, right?" Kisshu and Ichigo nodded. "Then don't complain," Pai said.

Kisshu sighed. Pai picked him up and put him on a table, then started looking for something in a cabinet. He finally pulled out what looked like a terrarium, and went back to the table. He put it down and set Kisshu inside of it, then put a screen with a strange device on it over the top. "This is a sensor, it should be able to show me what happened, and then I can hopefully counteract it," Pai said. "And I need you to stay calm, Kisshu, it's not going to work if you're jumping around."

Kisshu glared at him but sat still. Pai pressed a button, and a light started shining down on Kisshu. Pai hooked a cord to the sensor, and attached it to his computer. The light started sweeping back and forth over Kisshu's body, and data started appearing on the screen of the computer. Pai went over and looked at it, and his eyes widened. When the data stream stopped, he sighed. "Nya?" Kisshu asked.

Pai looked at him, and said grimly, "I can't figure out how to turn you both back. Something in your cat genes has caused both of you to turn into cats, and I can't figure out how to fix this."

Ichigo had jumped onto the table, and she and Kisshu looked at Pai in horror. Pai sighed and took Kisshu out of the terrarium thing, setting him down next to Ichigo. She mewed sadly. Kisshu nuzzled her, then hopped off the table, and ran to Pai's computer. Pai watched as Kisshu used his paws to type in, 'What about Keiichiro?'

"That's not a bad idea, we could go back to Earth and see Keiichiro," Pai said. "Let's go inform the Council and our family." He picked up Kisshu and Ichigo, then teleported to their house. Uncle Aran heard the teleportation, and came in. "How'd it go?" he asked.

"I can't figure out how to turn them back, but Kisshu suggested going back to Earth and consulting with the guy who helped create the Mews," Pai said. "Should I inform the Council?"

"Good idea," Uncle Aran said. "Take them with you, I'll tell Hamaya."

Pai nodded and teleported to a door, then knocked. "Come in," Siria-sama's voice said. Pai entered the room, closing the door behind him. Siria-sama was the only one there, and she asked, "Did something happen?"

"Hai," Pai said. "Kisshu and Ichigo have both turned into kittens." He set the two kittens down.

Siria-sama came over and knelt. Pai immediately did the same as the kittens looked up at Siria-sama. "Myu?" Ichigo asked.

"Can you understand them, Pai?" Siria-sama asked.

"Unfortunately, no," Pai said. "Kisshu seems to have retained some of his Cyniclon knowledge; he can type what he needs to say. He suggested taking himself and Ichigo to the assistant of the leader of the Mew Project, who might know how to fix this. I admit that I have no clue how this happened or how to fix it. I came to ask your permission to take these two back to Earth in order to see if this problem can be fixed."

"That's a good idea," Siria-sama said. "You have my permission. Good luck."

"Thank you," Pai said, bowing. He picked up Kisshu and Ichigo as Siria-sama stood up. He bowed once more, and teleported home.

Aunt Hamaya, Taruto and Uncle Aran were waiting anxiously, and Aunt Hamaya asked, "How'd it go?"

"We're going back to Earth," Pai said. "I'm not sure when we'll be back, but we will come back."

"Can I come?" Taruto asked.

"I suppose," Pai said. "I do need a copilot."

Taruto smiled and said, "Are we leaving now?"

"Hai," Pai said. "Teleport to the ship, I'll meet you in the control room." Taruto nodded and teleported off. Pai teleported to Kisshu's room, and said, "You two stay here." He waited till they nodded, and teleported off.

Kisshu sighed. _"I hope Keiichiro can turn us back," _he said.

"_Me too," _Ichigo said. _"I'm sleepy, can we go to sleep?"_

"_Sure, I am too," _Kisshu said. _"I guess that comes with being a kitten."_

Ichigo nodded, and they curled up together. Soon they were both asleep.

_**About eight hours later: **_Taruto came into the room and saw Kisshu and Ichigo curled up into little balls. "We're here," he told them, gently shaking Ichigo and Kisshu. Unfortunately, kittens don't like being shaken like that, and Kisshu woke up fast, then sank his claws into the hand shaking him. Ichigo put her paws over her sensitive ears as Taruto yelled, "OW! That HURT, Kisshu!"

Pai teleported in and said, "Kisshu, did you scratch Taruto?"

Kisshu gave him an innocent look. Pai didn't buy it and said, "You've really got to stop that. I know it's not easy being a kitten, but taking it out on me and Taruto isn't okay. And we just arrived, so we're going to go see Keiichiro. NO scratching while I teleport, got it?"

Kisshu hissed, and Ichigo nudged him. He settled down and let Pai pick him up, while Taruto picked up Ichigo, who seemed to be much more docile. Then the two Cyniclons teleported to the basement of Café Mew Mew.

To their surprise, the Mews and Keiichiro were there, looking at the computers intently. They spun as they heard the teleportation, but relaxed when they saw it was just Pai and Taruto. "That was fast," Keiichiro commented. "How's it going on your planet?"

"The Mew Aqua worked," Pai said. "But that's not why we're here."

Before he could say more, Pudding said, "Where'd you get the kittens, na no da? They're so cute!"

"That's actually why we're here," Pai said. "The kittens are actually Kisshu and Ichigo. I'm holding Kisshu, and Taruto's holding Ichigo."

"How did that happen?" Keiichiro asked.

"We're not sure," Pai admitted. "After we healed the planet, we found that Kisshu had turned into a kitten for some reason. Ichigo discovered that she could turn him back by kissing him, and I discovered that Kisshu had somehow gotten cat genes. Yesterday morning, my mother went to wake them up, and found that they were both kittens. I don't know how to turn them back, and I was hoping you would be willing to help."

"Of course," Keiichiro said. "But how did Kisshu get cat genes?"

"My guess is that it came with getting the same healing power as Ichigo," Pai said. "They seem to be gaining the same powers for some reason."

"Alright," Keiichiro said. "I need to do a blood test on both of them, and then I can probably counteract whatever is causing them to turn into cats." He got out a small needle with a canister attached, and walked over to Pai and Kisshu. Kisshu hissed. Keiichiro sighed. "You want to get back to normal, right?" he asked. Kisshu nodded. "Then you have to stay still," Keiichiro said. "It won't take long."

He was right. Soon he was taking out the needle, and wrapping a tiny bandage around Kisshu's leg. He did the same with Ichigo, then said, "Pai, why don't you help me try to find a way to counteract the transformation. The rest of you should keep Kisshu and Ichigo out of here, so you can take them upstairs, and take the fish out of the fridge. Maybe it will keep them happy."

"Nya?" Ichigo asked, perking up. Keiichiro smiled.

Kisshu also looked happy at the mention of fish. "I'll stay down here, who wants to carry Kisshu?" Pai asked.

"NOT me," Taruto said emphatically.

"I'll do it," Lettuce said. She took Kisshu from Pai's arms gently, and scratched his ears. He purred at her and settled down in her arms, while Ichigo reached a paw out toward Pudding.

"Pudding, I think Ichigo wants you to carry her," Taruto said. He handed Ichigo to Pudding, and Ichigo purred. Then they all went upstairs, and Zakuro went to the kitchen. She came back with a plate of tuna, which she placed on the floor. Lettuce and Pudding put Kisshu and Ichigo down, and watched as they ran to the plate, and started eating. Soon the tuna was gone, and Ichigo and Kisshu started to settle down. The Mews sat down on the floor, and started petting them. Soon they noticed something odd, though. While Ichigo willingly got petted by everyone, everytime Zakuro tried to pet Kisshu, he ran away. The first time he hid behind Lettuce, and only came out when he saw that Zakuro wasn't any closer.

They were talking about this, since none of them could understand cat language, and Lettuce said, "I noticed that even after we formed a truce, Kisshu seemed to be nervous around you, Zakuro-san. I don't know why, but I think that even in kitten form, he seems to be afraid of you for some reason."

Zakuro sighed. "Maybe he doesn't like wolves," she said. "They eat other animals, so maybe that's why?"

"Cats eat other animals too," Mint pointed out.

"Pai said Kisshu can still type," Kasumi said. "What if we found a way to let him type and asked why he's scared of Zakuro?"

"I have a miniature laptop," Lettuce said. "I'll go get it." She went to the locker room, and came back with a small laptop. She started it up, and opened a Word document. "Kisshu, can you tell us why you're afraid of Zakuro-san?" Lettuce asked.

Kisshu walked over and started typing. When he was done, Lettuce read out, "I don't like wolves. They attacked me when I was little." She sighed. "I guess that explains it," Lettuce said. "Taruto, did you know about this?"

"No, I didn't," Taruto said. "But I'm younger than Kisshu, so it might have happened before I was born."

The others looked at Kisshu, who nodded. He then jumped onto Lettuce's lap and settled down. Ichigo had been settled on Pudding's lap, but after hearing that, she jumped off and went to Kisshu. "Nya," she said firmly.

"Myu?" Kisshu asked. He sounded uncertain.

"Nyan, myu myu nya," Ichigo replied. "Nya, myu!" She pointed to Zakuro, then Pudding.

The others were confused. It made sense if Ichigo was trying to convince Kisshu that Zakuro wasn't scary, but why had she pointed to Pudding?

Lettuce suddenly had an idea, and said, "Ichigo-san might have noticed how much you care for Pudding, Zakuro-san. She could be using that as a persuasive argument."

Whatever the case was, Kisshu sighed and got off Lettuce's lap. Then he started to very hesitantly walk in Zakuro's direction. He stopped halfway, and Ichigo was obviously impatient, because she pushed him. This caused him to trip, and he sort of rolled head over tail till he bumped into Zakuro. He picked himself up, and glared at Ichigo. Taruto started laughing, and Kisshu lifted one paw, and made sure Taruto could see his little claws. That shut Taruto up pretty effectively. Kisshu gave the kitten's version of a smirk, and then sighed, looking at Ichigo again. She nodded, and Kisshu hesitantly looked at Zakuro. She very slowly reached down and rubbed Kisshu's head. He was a bit stiff at first, but slowly leaned into her hand, enjoying the sensation.

Pai came in around then, and stopped. "Kisshu's letting Zakuro pet him?" he asked.

"Ichigo had a talk with him," Lettuce said. "Have you figured something out?"

"Well…."

**MWAHAHAHAHA! Review!**


	24. Lettuce's House

**Betraying My People Chapter 24:**

**Lettuce's House**

"Is there a problem?" Zakuro asked. She took her hand away from Kisshu, and he went back to Lettuce's lap.

"Not exactly, but Keiichiro doesn't have the equipment he needs right now to turn them back," Pai said. "It might take him a while to get it, so Kisshu, Ichigo, you're going to have to wait a while to turn back."

"Myuuuuuuuu!" the two kittens wailed.

Pai sighed. "I know it's hard, but we will turn you back, so don't worry about staying kittens forever. Keiichiro says we can stay here, so you'll have a nice place to stay."

"Nya…" Kisshu said.

"We'll all come play with you," Lettuce said. "It won't be that bad."

"Myuu!" Ichigo said. She sounded excited. Lettuce smiled and said, "You like playing with us?" Ichigo nodded and rubbed her head against Lettuce's knee.

Zakuro sighed. "It's getting late, we should probably get going," she said.

"Okay," the others said. They got up, and started to leave. Everyone except Lettuce, who was having a very hard time getting the two kittens to let her go. She finally managed to get them both off her lap, but when she waved and tried to walk out the door, Kisshu and Ichigo ran in front of her, and started mewing. "You do know that I have to get home, right?" she asked them.

"Nyaaaaa…." Ichigo wailed.

Lettuce sighed and looked at Pai for help. "Kisshu, Ichigo, you know she'll be back tomorrow," Pai said. "Let her go home, and you'll see her tomorrow." Kisshu and Ichigo gave him death glares, then went back to looking at Lettuce pleadingly.

Keiichiro came up from the basement and saw what was going on. "Kisshu, Ichigo, why are you so against Lettuce leaving?" he asked.

"Myu," Kisshu said. He lifted a paw, and mimed typing. Keiichiro sighed. "Lettuce, we have to figure this out. I'll drive you home after we do, but I think we should figure this out."

"O-okay," Lettuce said. She picked up the kittens, and followed Keiichiro downstairs. He opened up a Word document, and Kisshu jumped onto the table, then walked to the keyboard. The others watched as he typed, and then Keiichiro read aloud, "She's comfy." The others facepalmed.

"Kisshu, that's not a good enough reason to stop her from going home," Pai said. Kisshu glared at him, and typed something else. Pai read out, "Ichigo and I are attracted to her and we don't know why. We don't want her to leave. Can we go home with her?"

"Um…. I have to call my parents first," Lettuce said. She took out a cell phone and dialed her home number. When she got a response, she said, "Yes, I know I'm late. I've got a small problem, can you come here? I'm at Café Mew Mew. Thanks Mom. See you soon." She sighed and turned to the others. "After the Mew Project was over, I told my family," she said. "They were very understanding, and they promised they'd never tell anyone. My mom's coming here, so we can explain the problem. We should wait upstairs."

"Okay," Keiichiro said. He, Pai and Taruto followed Lettuce upstairs. They didn't have to wait long, Mrs. Midorikawa came in and said, "I'm here, what's the problem?"

"You remember I told you about Ichigo and Kisshu?" Lettuce asked.

"Yes," Mrs. Midorikawa said.

"They turned into kittens," Lettuce said.

"Is that the only problem?" Mrs. Midorikawa asked.

"No, the real problem is that for some reason, they won't let me leave," Lettuce said. "Can I bring them home?"

"Do you know why they won't let you leave?" Mrs. Midorikawa asked.

"Kisshu can communicate by typing, and he says he and Ichigo are attracted to me, but they don't know why, and they don't want me to leave them," Lettuce said. "I didn't really know what to do, so I decided I'd ask you if they can come over."

"And what about your school?" Mrs. Midorikawa asked.

"Mom, tomorrow's Saturday," Lettuce said. "And it's a long weekend. Hopefully Keiichiro will have the means to turn them back by then."

Mrs. Midorikawa sighed. "I guess you can bring them home," she said. She turned to Keiichiro and said, "Do you have any food they could eat?"

"Sure, I'll go get the supply of fish we keep here," Keiichiro said. Noticing the others' questioning looks, he continued, "I like cooking fish, it's good for you. I'll get enough to last you through the weekend." He went to the kitchen. Ten minutes later he came back with a package of fish, and handed it to Mrs. Midorikawa. "Take good care of them," he said with a smile.

Mrs. Midorikawa smiled back and said, "We will." Then she and Lettuce left, Lettuce carrying Kisshu and Ichigo, who looked happy.

When they got in the car, Mrs. Midorikawa sighed. "I always wanted a kitten when I was little," she said. "I hope I'm ready for two."

"They're very well-behaved," Lettuce said. "Just don't startle Kisshu, he has a tendency to use his claws. Ichigo hasn't unsheathed her claws at all, though. Maybe it's a guy thing."

Kisshu squeaked indignantly. Mrs. Midorikawa laughed and said, "We'll be fine, and I'll make sure Uri doesn't startle them."

Eventually they reached the apartment building where they lived, and parked. They took the fish and drowsy kittens up the stairs and to their apartment, then went in. Mr. Midorikawa and Lettuce's little brother Uri looked up as they came into the living room. "The problem was kittens?" Mr. Midorikawa asked.

"Actually, my friends Kisshu and Ichigo somehow turned into kittens, and I was asked to take care of them, since they wouldn't let me leave," Lettuce said.

"Your friends turned into kittens?" Uri asked. "How'd that happen?"

"We're not exactly sure," Lettuce said. "Try not to startle them, they do have claws."

"Okay," Uri said. "Hey Mom, what's in that package?"

"Fish for the kittens," Mrs. Midorikawa said. "I'll go put it away." She left, and Lettuce said, "I think I'll take them to my room, they look sleepy." She went to her room and turned on the light. Kisshu and Ichigo blinked as she gently set them down on her bed. "I'm going to go help with dinner, so stay here and be good," Lettuce said. "Don't worry, I'll be back." She waited till they nodded and curled up together before leaving.

**Short, I know. But it's almost midnight, and I think for once that's a fairly good non-cliffie chapter ending. Plz review!**


	25. The Reason

**Betraying My People Chapter 25:**

**The Reason**

Lettuce went back to her room after dinner to find Kisshu and Ichigo curled up on her pillow. They blinked when she turned the light on. "Nya?" Ichigo asked.

"Um… if you're asking if I'm done with dinner, than yes," Lettuce said. She sat down on the bed, and Ichigo and Kisshu scrambled over and jumped onto her lap. She giggled and started petting them. They purred at her and settled down.

Mrs. Midorikawa came in a little while later, and sat down with Lettuce. "I thought kittens were more hyper than that," she commented, looking at the two on Lettuce's lap.

"Maybe it's because they're not meant to be kittens," Lettuce said. "I'm just glad they stayed until I got back. They're very well behaved."

"That's good," Mrs. Midorikawa said. "Do you think they'll let me pet them?"

"You can try," Lettuce said. "I'd suggest trying Ichigo first, Kisshu takes a while to get used to people."

"Okay," Mrs. Midorikawa said. She reached out and scratched Ichigo's ears. Ichigo purred and leaned into her hand. Lettuce smiled and petted Kisshu, who seemed very content. Ichigo looked at Mrs. Midorikawa and hesitantly walked over, then started rubbing her. Mrs. Midorikawa giggled.

"I keep wondering what it is about me that attracts them," Lettuce commented softly.

"I hate to say this, but what if it has something to do with your Mew animal?" Mrs. Midorikawa suggested.

"Maybe Kisshu can tell us," Lettuce said. "I'll get the laptop." She gently dislodged Kisshu from her lap and went to get the laptop. Then she opened up the Word document from before and said, "Kisshu, do you know if you're attracted to me because of my Mew animal?"

Kisshu came over and typed in, 'No, it's not that, or we'd be trying to eat you. Something about having you nearby is calming to us, and we don't exactly know why. Maybe you should ask Keiichiro.'

Lettuce showed her mother the computer, and said, "Maybe I should call Keiichiro." She got her cell phone and dialed the number. When she got a response, she said, "Hi Keiichiro, it's Lettuce."

"_I hope the kittens aren't too much of a handful," _Keiichiro said.

"No, they're fine," Lettuce said. "But Kisshu typed that having me nearby is calming to them, and they don't know why. Do you have any ideas?"

"_It doesn't have something to do with your Mew animal, does it?" _Keiichiro asked.

"Kisshu says no," Lettuce said. "He said if that was the case, they'd be trying to eat me."

"_Good point," _Keiichiro said. _"I've actually been trying to figure this out myself, and Pai's helping. And now he's waving at me. Maybe he found something. I'll put him on."_

Lettuce waited, and then heard Pai say, _"Lettuce?"_

"I'm here," Lettuce said. "Did you find something?"

"_Hai," _Pai said. _"It seems that in cat form, those two can sense people's auras. Since you have the most calming aura out of all of us, their senses are telling them that you're the safest to be around. They sense that you're calmer, and I think that that sense tells them to go to you. I guess you could say they think of you as home, and home is wherever you are. Keiichiro and I are working our hardest to get the equipment needed to turn them back, so hopefully we'll have it done by Sunday or Monday. In the meantime, I hope you don't mind staying with them. They might try to follow you around, but they understand human speech, so it shouldn't be too hard to get them to stop. We'll contact you as soon as we have the equipment ready, so until then, please take care of them."_

"I'll take good care of them," Lettuce promised.

"_Thank you, Lettuce," Pai said. "Ja ne." _

"Ja ne," Lettuce said, and hung up.

Her mother looked at her and said, "What was that about?"

"Apparently they're attracted to my aura," Lettuce said. "And Pai says they think of me as home. Judging by the way they've been acting, I think I can't go shopping tomorrow. Can you go?"

"Sure," Mrs. Midorikawa said. "I know it's important that you take care of them. Though I must say, the clinginess kind of reminds me of you as a baby. You wouldn't let anyone but me hold you for a long time. They act a little like you're their mother."

Lettuce looked down at Kisshu and Ichigo, who were on her lap. They looked back innocently, and Kisshu said, "Myu?"

Lettuce sighed. "They really are kittens, not just people- or Cyniclons- turned into kittens," she said. She looked at Kisshu and said, "You do realize that I'm not really your mother, right?"

"Nyaaaaaa!" Kisshu wailed. Ichigo joined in after a second.

Mrs. Midorikawa sighed. "I think that was the wrong thing to say," she said.

Lettuce sighed again, and said, "Okay, you two, calm down, I can be your mom…"

Ichigo and Kisshu perked up, and got off her lap, then started rolling around on the bed. "I hope there's a way to reverse this, they keep getting more kitten-like," Lettuce said.

This was proven correct when Kisshu discovered Lettuce's braids, and started batting at one. Ichigo saw what he was doing, and started doing the same. Lettuce didn't really mind- until Ichigo bit one, and it HURT. "Ichigo, did you have to?" Lettuce said.

"Maybe you should let your hair loose," Mrs. Midorikawa said. "It looks nicer that way anyways, and it should keep them from biting it."

"Okay," Lettuce said. She started unbraiding her hair, and then shook it out. Her hair came down to her waist, and Kisshu and Ichigo looked at it- then lost interest and curled up together sleepily. "I guess it is pretty late," Mrs. Midorikawa said. "Lettuce, you should go to bed too, kittens can be energetic in the morning."

"Okay, Mom," Lettuce said. Lettuce gathered up her nightclothes and went to change. When she got back, Kisshu and Ichigo were curled up on her pillow in a small ball. She carefully moved them to the other side of the bed, and climbed in. As she pulled the covers up, they started purring, and Lettuce smiled as she fell asleep.

**HA! Bet you didn't expect me to have another reason! And for people's information, no matter what Kisshu thinks, Finless Porpoises are NOT fish, they're mammals. Review! (And I'm on sugar high, which is why I'm typing like this!)**


	26. Turning Back

**Betraying My People Chapter 26:**

**Turning Back**

Lettuce woke up early the next morning, since Kisshu was mewing at her. "Kisshu, do you know what time it is?" she asked. "It's early. And I was hoping to sleep in."

"Nya…" Kisshu said in a disgruntled tone. Lettuce sighed, but before she could get up, she felt something like sandpaper touch her cheek. She looked, and saw Ichigo licking her cheek from a perch on her shoulder.

"Ichigo, why are you doing that?" Lettuce asked.

"Nya?" Ichigo asked, as if the answer was obvious. "Myu, nyan."

"Are you trying to get me to get up?" Lettuce asked. Ichigo nodded. Lettuce sighed and said, "Okay, I'm getting up. Stay here while I take a shower, okay?" Kisshu and Ichigo sighed, but nodded.

Lettuce gathered her clothes, and went to take a shower. As she had predicted, no one else was up. When she was done, she was about to braid her hair when she remembered that Kisshu and Ichigo liked to play with it. She left it loose, and went back to her room. She noticed the kittens were staring at her cell phone, and asked, "Did I get a call?" Kisshu nodded.

Lettuce picked up the phone and listened to the message, which was from Keiichiro. _"Lettuce, I need you to bring the kittens here as soon as possible, I think we found a way to turn them back. And if they stay in that form for too long, they might not be able to change back." _Lettuce's eyes widened and she immediately dialed Keiichiro's number. When he picked up, Lettuce said, "Hi, it's Lettuce. Can you come get me and the kittens? No one in my family is up yet."

"_Sure, I'll be there soon," _Keiichiro said, and hung up.

Lettuce wrote a note for her parents, and picked up the kittens. Then she went outside to wait for Keiichiro.

He pulled up about ten minutes later, and Lettuce got in his car, settling Kisshu and Ichigo on her lap. "How have they been?" Keiichiro asked as he started driving.

"They're getting more kitten-like," Lettuce said. "This morning Ichigo was licking my cheek. And last night they were rolling around on my bed. They've also become very clingy to me."

"Ichigo was licking your cheek?" Keiichiro asked.

"Yeah, and last night they seemed to think that I was their mom, because Kisshu started wailing when I told him I wasn't really his mother," Lettuce said. "And then Ichigo started wailing too, and they only calmed down when I said I'd be their mom."

"That's very odd," Keiichiro said. "I wonder how old they are as kittens."

"Why?" Lettuce asked.

"Kittens usually leave their mother at about three months old, sometimes a little older," Keiichiro explained. "It's not normal for kittens to be this clingy, either, unless they're only a few weeks old."

"Maybe we'll figure it out when they go back to normal," Lettuce said.

Keiichiro pulled into the back of Café Mew Mew, and he and Lettuce got out, then took the kittens out, and carried them to the basement. Pai and Taruto were waiting, and Pai said, "Good to see you, Lettuce."

"Y-you too," Lettuce said, blushing.

"How are Kisshu and Ichigo?" Taruto asked.

"Clingy," Lettuce sighed. "Do you have a way to turn them back?"

"Hai, we have to put them on here," Pai said, pointing to a circular pedestal.

"Are we doing them one at a time, or both at once?" Lettuce asked.

"We can do them at the same time," Keiichiro said. "Put them on the pedestal."

Lettuce gently placed Kisshu and Ichigo on the pedestal. They mewed nervously, and she said, "You want to go back to normal, right? I'll be right here, don't worry."

As soon as they nodded, Pai pressed a button, and said, "Okay, you two have to stay still, or this won't work." They nodded again, and a light enveloped them. Lettuce and the others watched as Kisshu and Ichigo started to grow, then revert to their original forms. Kisshu turned back fully first, and Ichigo wasn't far behind. The light went away, and Pai said, "Okay, that's done."

Kisshu leaped down lightly, then helped Ichigo get down. "Thank you so much," they chorused. Then they turned to Lettuce, and said together, "Thank you, Lettuce, for taking care of us." They both bowed to her.

"You're welcome," Lettuce said. "I think I'm glad you're back to normal, though. You two are a handful."

Ichigo and Kisshu turned red. Lettuce noticed and giggled. "Ichigo, why did you lick my cheek this morning?" she asked. "Do I taste nice?"

Ichigo turned dark red and said, "Humans have salt on their skin, and it tastes good, but I was actually trying to get you to wake up. Kisshu and I got bored around 5:30."

"Jeez, you two woke Lettuce up at 5:30?" Keiichiro asked.

"Um… yeah," Kisshu said. "Sorry, Lettuce."

"Why did you two get so upset last night when I told you I wasn't really your mother?" Lettuce asked. "You both started wailing, and it was only after I said I'd pretend to be your mom that you stopped."

Kisshu and Ichigo turned red again, and Kisshu said, "We're about two months old as kittens for some reason, and I guess that kittens like having their mothers around at that age. We knew you weren't our real mom, but I wasn't lying when I typed that you're comfy yesterday. Something about being near you was different than the others, and you felt like home to us." By now Kisshu was tomato red, and Ichigo wasn't much better.

"You're only two months old as kittens?" Taruto asked.

"Yeah, so we're old enough to eat solid food," Ichigo said. "Which is good. Otherwise, you'd have to find some kind of milk, because kittens can't get enough nutrients out of cow's milk."

"I wonder why you're so young," Pai said.

"I don't know," Ichigo said. "Have you figured out a way to stop this from happening again?"

"Keiichiro created a serum that will cause your cat genes to remain dormant unless you need to fight with them or heal," Pai said. "So you both can still heal, and Ichigo can still fight if necessary. The serum will simply keep your cat form from coming out. However, if one of you becomes very weak for some reason, like the time Kisshu got sick, you will turn into a kitten to retain energy. You'll only go back to normal when your body has recovered. I'm not anticipating something like that ever happening, so you shouldn't worry about it."

"Okay, thanks," Kisshu said. "I suppose the serum involves needles?"

"Yes, but it shouldn't hurt," Keiichiro said. "Who's going first?"

Kisshu pointed to Ichigo, who sighed. "I'll go," she said. "You're only putting off the inevitable, Kisshu."

Kisshu sighed as Ichigo went over to a chair, and Keiichiro took a needle with a canister attached off the counter. Then he put the needle in Ichigo's arm, and pushed all the serum into her vein. When he was done, he put a bandage on her arm, and looked at Kisshu, who sighed and came over, sitting down in the chair. Ichigo took his hand and said, "Just don't look."

Kisshu looked away as Keiichiro pushed all the serum into his vein. Keiichiro put a bandage on Kisshu's arm, and said, "You're both all set."

"Thanks, Keiichiro," Ichigo said, then nudged Kisshu.

"Thank you," Kisshu said.

Keiichiro smiled. "You're welcome."

Pai sighed. "I think we should get back," he said. "I don't want to stay away too long."

"Okay," Kisshu and Ichigo said. "Keiichiro, Lettuce, it was nice seeing you again."

"And thanks for getting us back to normal," Ichigo said to Keiichiro.

"Thanks for taking care of us," Kisshu said to Lettuce.

"Sure," Lettuce said. She turned to Pai, and said, "Pai-san, I'll miss you."

Pai looked a bit startled, but said, "I'll miss you too. I hope to visit again soon, though."

"Next time, can you contact me?" Keiichiro asked. "We weren't sure if it was you guys when the computers sensed a spaceship heading for Earth."

"Alright," Pai said. "I guess I forgot, I was thinking about how to get Kisshu and Ichigo back to normal."

"That's fine, I can understand you being worried," Keiichiro said. "Hopefully next time you visit we all can just have fun, instead of pulling all-nighters to make sure Kisshu and Ichigo don't turn into kittens permanently."

"I hope so too," Pai said. "We'll come back whenever we can. Taruto is getting attached to Pudding."

Taruto blushed and said, "I am not!"

Kisshu smirked. "Denial attack."

Taruto growled, but didn't attack Kisshu for once. Pai sighed and said, "We'll be going now, thank you for all your help. Sayonara, Lettuce."

Lettuce blushed slightly and said, "Sayonara, Pai-san."

Pai nodded and teleported back to the ship, followed by Kisshu, Ichigo and Taruto.

**Okay, a bit short, but at least I got Kisshu and Ichigo back to normal. Review plz!**


	27. Back to Cyniclonia

**Betraying My People Chapter 27:**

**Back to Cyniclonia**

Ichigo and Kisshu went back to their room after getting on the ship, leaving Pai and Taruto to fly it. They sat down on the bed, and Kisshu sighed.

"Something wrong?" Ichigo asked.

"That was pretty embarrassing," Kisshu said.

"Yeah, but at least Lettuce wasn't unhappy with us," Ichigo said. "Considering the fact I actually licked her, I'm glad she only giggled a little."

"I hope that serum works," Kisshu said. "I NEVER want to turn into a kitten again."

"I was starting to get the sense right before we got back to normal that I was meant to be a kitten," Ichigo said. "Did you feel that?"

"Now that you mention it, yes," Kisshu said. "I guess that was a sign that Keiichiro and Pai were almost too late to turn us back."

"Well, I guess we'll just have to see what happens," Ichigo said. "I wonder how long it takes for the serum to take effect?"

"I have no clue, why?" Kisshu asked.

"Because if we kiss before it takes effect, we'll be back to square one," Ichigo said. "I think we should wait on kissing for a while."

Kisshu sighed. "Oh well," he said. "I still don't understand why we turned into kittens when we weren't kissing."

"Yeah, same here," Ichigo said. "But if the serum works, we won't have to worry about it anymore."

"I hope so," Kisshu said. He rubbed his neck, then flinched.

"What's wrong?" Ichigo asked.

"I think I've got a bruise from you pushing me," Kisshu said. "Why were you so insistent on me liking Zakuro, anyways?"

"Because she's a good person, and it's hurtful to people when you run away from them," Ichigo said. "You do realize she wouldn't hurt you, right?"

"I can't help being nervous around wolves," Kisshu said. "They're scary."

"Zakuro's only half wolf, though," Ichigo said. "The other half is human."

"She acts like Pai, and combine that with the wolf, makes her scary," Kisshu grumbled.

"You're afraid of Pai?" Ichigo asked.

"You don't think he's creepy?" Kisshu asked.

"Not particularly," Ichigo said. "Besides, if he was actually creepy, Lettuce wouldn't have fallen in love with him."

"Lettuce is in love with Pai? _Seriously_!?" Kisshu asked.

"You honestly didn't notice?" Ichigo asked.

Kisshu looked sheepish as he said, "Um… not really."

Ichigo sighed. "You can be so clueless sometimes."

"Hey!" Kisshu said indignantly. Then he smirked, but Ichigo didn't notice- at least until he started tickling her.

She shrieked, and Kisshu just smirked. Ichigo took the challenge and started tickling him back. By this point she knew exactly where he was most ticklish, and exploited that. Soon they were both laughing too hard to speak, and finally Kisshu gasped out, "I give. You win again, Koneko-chan."

"YES!" Ichigo said. "You haven't beaten me once, have you?"

"No…" Kisshu said. "But I'll manage it someday."

Ichigo giggled, and got off him. Kisshu took the opportunity to jump on her and pin her to the floor. Unfortunately, he was a little too rough, and Ichigo's head hit the floor, knocking her out. Kisshu immediately got off her and put her on the bed, then put a hand on her forehead. Then he sighed. She wasn't hurt, just unconscious. Kisshu looked at her, realizing it was his fault, and started crying.

Ichigo woke up about an hour later, and looked around. She didn't see Kisshu, and got worried. She sat up, and was about to get up to go looking for him, when she noticed he was lying on the floor, his face tearstained. Panic shot through her, and she immediately ran to him and started shaking him. "Kisshu! _**Kisshu! **_Wake up!" Ichigo screamed.

Kisshu started to stir, and Ichigo stopped shaking him. "Kisshu?" she asked.

Kisshu opened his eyes, and sat up. He was shocked when Ichigo threw herself at him, sobbing. "Ichigo, what's wrong?" he asked, hugging her.

"What's _wrong!?" _Ichigo sobbed. "I found you lying on the floor after you accidentally knocked me out, and knowing how obsessed you are, I thought you had killed yourself or something!"

"I kind of fell asleep crying…." Kisshu said. "Are you okay?"

"You scared me!" Ichigo cried.

"I'm sorry, Koneko-chan, I got tired out crying and I was sitting on the floor, so I guess I fell asleep on the floor too," Kisshu said. "Really, I'm fine."

Ichigo took her face away from his shoulder and looked at him. "Really?" she whispered.

Kisshu smiled. "Really," he said. "I'm sorry I scared you."

Ichigo hugged him, burying her face in his shoulder again. Kisshu gently picked her up and put her on the bed, sitting down next to her. "Next time you're tired, try to sleep somewhere other than the floor," Ichigo whispered. "When I saw your face was tearstained, I really panicked."

"I promise, I won't sleep on the floor anymore," Kisshu said. "I'm really sorry I scared you."

Ichigo just hugged him tighter. "Now I'm tired," she said. "Can you sleep with me?"

"Sure," Kisshu said. He pulled a blanket over both of them, and Ichigo snuggled into his chest, falling asleep almost immediately. Kisshu started stroking her hair, and she leaned into his hand. Soon after, Kisshu fell asleep as well.

Five hours later, Pai came in and woke them up. "We're here," he told them when he saw that they were awake. "Are you two feeling okay?"

"We're fine," Ichigo said.

"Then why did I hear screaming in here earlier?" Pai asked. "If I wasn't flying the ship, I would have come in here, but I didn't want to crash or go off course."

"I accidentally knocked Ichigo out while we were playing, and then fell asleep crying," Kisshu said sheepishly. "And then she found me sleeping on the floor and panicked."

"You should know better than to sleep on the floor," Pai said sternly. "At least that explains why your hair is standing up on one side."

Kisshu immediately felt his hair- and then noticed Pai was snickering. "Um… Pai, are you feeling okay?" Kisshu asked.

"Yes, why?" Pai asked.

Kisshu turned to Ichigo. "This is serious, if he's laughing, it means he's either come down with a serious illness, or he's finally gone off the deep end."

Pai glared at Kisshu as Ichigo said, "Any suggestions?"

"Yeah, there's a straightjacket in the control room," Kisshu said.

Ichigo burst out laughing, as Pai shouted, "I do NOT need to be in a straightjacket, you little green demon!"

Kisshu burst out laughing as Ichigo nearly fell off the bed. "Jeez Pai, I haven't heard that one since I told Aunt Hamaya that you were the one who destroyed the coffee table," Kisshu said, still laughing. "You must be regressing."

"I AM NOT!" Pai shouted. "Asparagus head."

Kisshu turned red and shouted, "Eggplant brain!"

Now it was Pai's turn to turn red, and he shouted, "Obnoxious grass kid!"

Kisshu teleported, and before Pai could move, Kisshu was tying him up with some rope that he had in his room. Once Pai was unable to move (and steaming), Kisshu said, "Never call me 'obnoxious grass kid' again, you hear me?"

"Whatever," Pai said. Kisshu turned red again and smacked him, then walked over to Ichigo, grabbed her hand, and teleported home.

They landed in the main room, where Aunt Hamaya, Uncle Aran, and Taruto were waiting. Kisshu set Ichigo down, and stormed off. A minute later, they heard a door slam, and Aunt Hamaya asked, "What happened?"

"Pai called Kisshu an 'obnoxious grass kid', and Kisshu blew up," Ichigo said. "What was that about?"

Uncle Aran sighed. "Many kids were jealous of Kisshu when he was younger, since he was the top of every fighting class there was," he said. "A lot of people called Kisshu that name, and he hated it, especially since he didn't understand why the others didn't like him. And since green is an unusual hair color even among our people, names like that often popped up. Kisshu got teased a lot when he was little, and I think that left a mark. Pai really should know better than to bring that up. I'd better go have a talk with him. Where is he?"

"Probably still in Kisshu's room on the ship," Ichigo said. "Kisshu tied him up and smacked him. I've never seen Kisshu like that."

Uncle Aran sighed. "I'll go talk to Pai, you and Hamaya go to Kisshu," he said. "I don't think Kisshu really needs to be punished, but you should try to cheer him up. Pai, on the other hand, is going to get it." He teleported out.

Aunt Hamaya sighed, and said to Ichigo, "Let's go to Kisshu, he's probably in his room."

Ichigo nodded and followed Aunt Hamaya to Kisshu's room. Aunt Hamaya knocked, and they heard Kisshu say, "No one's in here. Go away."

"It sounds like someone's in there," Aunt Hamaya said. "Unless the walls have learned to talk."

"No, but the door is locked, so even if there was someone in here, you can't get in," Kisshu said.

Aunt Hamaya tried the doorknob, and sure enough, it was locked. She sighed and said, "Open the door, Kisshu. You're not in trouble, we just want to talk."

"If 'we' is you and Pai, tell him to go away," Kisshu said. "I hate Pai."

"'We' is me and Ichigo," Aunt Hamaya said. "Now open the door."

There was a click, and the door opened a crack. Aunt Hamaya pushed it open, and she and Ichigo went in. Kisshu was lying face-down on the bed, his head buried in the pillows. Ichigo went and sat next to him, and Aunt Hamaya sat down next to her as she started stroking Kisshu's hair. "Uncle Aran went to talk to Pai," Ichigo said.

"I hate Pai," Kisshu said. "Everyone thinks my hair is weird, and he's no exception."

"I don't think your hair is weird, I think it's beautiful," Ichigo said.

Kisshu turned his head and looked at her. "You do?" he asked.

Ichigo smiled. "Yep."

Kisshu sighed, and sat up. "I still hate Pai," he said.

Aunt Hamaya sighed. "You two need to learn to get along," she said.

"I'd get along with him just fine if he didn't call me names," Kisshu grumbled.

"He doesn't usually do that, does he?" Ichigo asked.

"Not recently," Kisshu admitted. "But he KNOWS I hate comments related to my hair, and that it hurts my feelings, which means he did it on purpose."

"How did this get started, anyways?" Aunt Hamaya asked.

"Pai was laughing at me and I told him he needed a straightjacket, then told Ichigo to go get one from the control room, and he started calling me names," Kisshu said.

"And why exactly would you tell him he needed a straightjacket?" Aunt Hamaya asked.

"He was laughing, so I assumed he'd gone off the deep end," Kisshu said. "Don't insane people usually have straightjackets?"

"Only if they're in potential danger of harming themselves or others," Aunt Hamaya said. "And I don't think Pai laughing is a good enough reason to put him in a straightjacket."

Kisshu sighed. "Are you going to make me apologize?" he asked.

"Not this time, but in future, remember that just because Pai's laughing, doesn't mean he's gone off the deep end," Aunt Hamaya said. "He has a right to laugh too."

"I never said he didn't, but it's still creepy," Kisshu said.

Aunt Hamaya sighed, but didn't say anything more, since Uncle Aran came through the door then and said, "Kisshu, I had a talk with Pai, and he has something to say to you. I also untied him. I'm impressed, those knots were well done."

Aunt Hamaya facepalmed as Kisshu smirked and said, "Thanks, I've been practicing."

Uncle Aran smiled slightly and turned back to the doorway, then said, "Pai, you can come in now."

Pai walked into the room and looked at Kisshu, who was glaring at him. "Kisshu, I'm sorry I called you those names," Pai said. "I should have remembered that no matter what, I shouldn't say things like that."

"Fine, just don't do it again," Kisshu said.

Pai nodded, and left, followed by Uncle Aran. Aunt Hamaya sighed and said, "Ichigo, would you like to help me with dinner?"

"Sure, Aunt Hamaya," Ichigo said. She and Aunt Hamaya got up, and Ichigo turned to Kisshu. "See you at dinner, Kisshu," Ichigo said.

Kisshu nodded, so Ichigo followed Aunt Hamaya to the kitchen.

**Filler. I know. I just couldn't think what to do next. PM me or review with ideas plz!**


	28. Settling In

**Betraying My People Chapter 28:**

**Settling In**

Now that they were back on Cyniclonia, Kisshu and his family were teaching Ichigo more about their way of life. Today they were talking about adoption, but just randomly.

"What's adoption like on Earth?" Aunt Hamaya asked.

"I don't know much about it, but I think you have to go to an orphanage, and if you find a child you want to adopt, you have to sign a lot of paperwork and pay a lot of money, and eventually you can take the child home with you," Ichigo said.

"You have to pay money to adopt?" Uncle Aran asked.

"I think it's to support the orphanage- you know, so they'll have money for the other children's food and clothing and stuff," Ichigo said. "What's it like here?"

"Until the Mew Aqua healed the planet, a lot of people died of illness or in natural disasters," Aunt Hamaya replied. "Since so many kids were orphaned, the rest of us took in who we could, so that all the kids could have a home. We don't have an orphanage here, kids just have to find new families. We live as one community, since the planet used to be so bad. Everyone helps everyone else."

"That's great," Ichigo said.

"Ichigo, I've been meaning to tell you something," Uncle Aran said. "Normally when we adopt in this culture, the child we adopt takes on their new parents' name. We understand if you want to keep Momomiya as your name, but I just thought you should know what the custom is here."

"I don't mind," Ichigo said. "According to Kisshu, I'd be getting that name someday anyways."

"Planning ahead, is he?" Aunt Hamaya asked with a smile.

Ichigo blushed. "Something like that."

"Is that what you want?" Uncle Aran asked.

"Definitely, I can't imagine marrying anyone besides Kisshu," Ichigo said sincerely.

"Good to hear," Kisshu said from behind her. Ichigo squeaked and turned. "Did I startle you?" Kisshu asked with a smirk.

"Yeah, pretty much," Ichigo said sheepishly. "What's up?"

"You've been sitting inside all day, let's go for a walk," Kisshu said.

"Okay," Ichigo said.

"You two have fun," Aunt Hamaya said.

Kisshu nodded and teleported Ichigo outside. The sun was out, and there was a slight breeze ruffling the grass. "This planet is so beautiful now," Ichigo commented.

"I'm so glad the Mew Aqua worked," Kisshu said. "It's nice to be able to go outside."

"It looked pretty barren when we first got here," Ichigo said. "Now we've got this huge field of flowers, and a forest, and the river."

They had started walking, and Kisshu said, "I found a really pretty place earlier; do you want to see it?"

"Sure, Kisshu," Ichigo said. Kisshu smiled and took her hand, then teleported.

They landed in a small forest clearing, and Ichigo gasped. There was a small pool in the middle of the clearing, surrounded by what looked like roses. "Kisshu, this is... amazing," Ichigo said in awe.

Kisshu grinned, and said, "I thought you'd like it. I found it and thought it would be perfect for a little getaway spot."

"You're totally right, it's perfect," Ichigo said. "You'd never see something this perfect on Earth."

"Do you miss it?" Kisshu asked.

"Not really," Ichigo said. "The only thing I really miss is my parents, but I'd miss them whether I was here or on Earth."

"What about your friends?" Kisshu asked.

"My school friends, sort of, but I know they think I'm dead, and my Mew friends I can still visit, so it's not too bad," Ichigo replied.

"So you like it here?" Kisshu asked.

"Of course, because it's where you are, and I have a new family," Ichigo said.

Kisshu smiled, and pulled Ichigo into his arms. She hugged back, and they started kissing. When they broke apart, Kisshu said, "I'm glad we can do that without turning into kittens now."

Ichigo smiled. "Me too."

Kisshu looked at the sky, then said, "We should get back, it's getting dark." He took Ichigo's hand and teleported back to their house.

To their surprise, no one was there. "Where is everyone?" Ichigo wondered.

"Pai's been in his lab all day, and Taruto went to a friend's, but I have no clue about Aunt Hamaya and Uncle Aran," Kisshu said.

"Should we go looking for them?" Ichigo asked.

"Might be a good idea," Kisshu said. "Let's see if they left a note first."

Ichigo went to the kitchen, but there was no note. Kisshu checked the main room, but still nothing. Ichigo came in and said, "Nothing."

"Same here," Kisshu said. "Let's go see if Pai knows anything." He took Ichigo's hand and teleported to the lab. To their shock, Pai was lying on the floor. They ran over, and Kisshu shook his shoulder. "Pai, are you okay?" he asked.

Pai groaned softly, and opened his eyes. "Kisshu?" he asked.

"Yeah, what happened?" Kisshu asked.

"I'm not sure, someone knocked me out, but I didn't see who it was," Pai said. Suddenly his eyes widened, and he said, "I was working on a project, what if it got stolen?"

"What was the project?" Ichigo asked.

"It was an experiment that I thought up after you and Kisshu turned into kittens," Pai explained. "I wanted to see if I could create something that would change wild animals into harmless kittens, in case we start having problems, or we find out there's something living in the forests. I'd better see if my notes are still here." He got up, and ran to a table, then said, "This is bad, they're gone. By the way, why did you come here?"

"Aunt Hamaya and Uncle Aran aren't home, and they didn't leave a note, we wondered if you knew where they are," Ichigo said. Pai's eyes widened.

"No, I haven't heard from them, and last time I checked, they were planning on inviting Taruto's friend's family over for dinner, it's not like them to disappear," Pai said.

"What is going on around here?" Kisshu asked. "Do you think we should make sure Taruto's okay?"

"Good plan, you and Ichigo go find him, and if he's okay, bring him here," Pai said. "I'll try to find Mom and Dad."

Kisshu nodded and teleported Ichigo to another house, then knocked on the door. A woman opened it, and said, "Oh, hello Kisshu, what's up?"

"Is Taruto here?" Kisshu asked.

"Last I checked he was in Yusuke's room," the woman said. "Do you want me to go get him?"

"If you don't mind," Kisshu said.

The woman nodded and said, "Come in." Kisshu and Ichigo obeyed, and the woman led them to a room off the main room. She knocked on the door, then said, "Yusuke, Taruto, are you in there?"

The door opened and a young Cyniclon boy with dark brown hair and green eyes came out. "Taruto vanished," he said. "He said he was going to the bathroom, but he didn't come back."

Kisshu and Ichigo's eyes widened. Yusuke noticed and said, "Did something happen?"

"We're not sure," Kisshu said. "But we need to find him. Thanks, Yusuke."

"Sure," Yusuke said. Kisshu teleported out with Ichigo, back to Pai's lab. Pai was there, and he said, "Did you find him?"

"No, Yusuke claims he went to the bathroom and never came back," Kisshu said grimly. "Someone's taking our family away."

"Go to the Council," Pai said. "Tell them what we know, and then come straight back here."

"Hai," Kisshu said, then teleported to a door and knocked on it. "Come in," said a man's voice.

Kisshu pushed the door open, and Ichigo followed him in, then copied him as he went down on one knee. "Kisshu and Ichigo, why have you come to the Council?" the man asked.

"Everyone in my family except Ichigo and Pai are missing," Kisshu replied. "They did not leave a note, and Taruto's friend said he vanished from his house. Also, Pai's research notes have been stolen. We thought we should inform you."

The man sighed. "This is getting bad," he said. "Siria-sama is also missing. Is Pai trying to find his parents and Taruto?"

"Hai," Kisshu said. "I don't know if he's had any luck; he sent us to speak with you after we told him about Taruto's disappearance."

"Do you have any idea who might have done this?" the man asked.

"Unfortunately, no," Kisshu replied. "I can't think of anyone who would have cause to kidnap others and steal Pai's research notes."

"Do you know what Pai was researching?" the man asked.

"Hai, he was attempting to discover a way to turn wild animals or anything dangerous into kittens," Kisshu said.

"Where did he come up with that?" the man asked.

"He got the idea when Ichigo and I turned into kittens," Kisshu said.

Ichigo's eyes widened. "What if the person who did all this wants to turn someone into a kitten for some reason?" she asked. "If they wanted control, they could use Pai's research to turn Siria-sama into a kitten, which would explain why she's missing too."

Kisshu and the man they were talking to looked horrified. "If that's the case, we're in real danger," the man said finally. "It would be easy to see how the Council would be in disarray if Siria-sama became a kitten. But why kidnap Hamaya, Aran and Taruto?"

"If the person doing this has a grudge against one of us- me, Kisshu and Pai, then they may think they need more leverage than Siria-sama," Ichigo said.

"I see," the man said. "If they only kidnapped Siria-sama, it would be possible that none of you would be involved in the search. Whoever did this must want one of you to be involved."

"I wonder which one of us," Kisshu said.

Suddenly there was banging on the door, and Pai's voice shouted, "We've got a problem!"

"Come in!" the man said.

Pai came in, and the man said, "What's the problem?"

Pai looked grim as he said, "I tried doing searches using Taruto's DNA, thinking that they would be together, and found nothing on this entire planet. The only thing out of the ordinary around here is a group of small mammals."

"I think we're too late," Ichigo said. She turned to Pai and said, "I think someone wants one or more of the three of us dead. I also believe they used your research to turn Cyniclons into kittens. Where is the group of mammals you mentioned?"

"A clearing in the forest," Pai replied. "Where is Siria-sama?"

"Missing," Kisshu said grimly. "I think whoever did this wants control of the Council."

Pai's eyes went wide, and he said, "This is really bad. I'll take you to the clearing, and we can see if your theory is correct."

Kisshu and Ichigo stood up, and Pai took them by the shoulder, then teleported to the clearing Kisshu had shown Ichigo earlier. They immediately heard panicked mewing sounds, and spun. "It's too dark!" Pai said.

"I can see," Ichigo said. "There are four kittens on a small board in the middle of the pool here. We have to get them, cats can't swim." She walked over to the pool, and knelt, then reached out, and gently pulled the board through the water, finally lifting it out of the water and setting the kittens down. "Kisshu, Pai, I got them," Ichigo said. "Kisshu, can you see?"

"Yeah," Kisshu said. "Do you need help carrying them?"

"Hai, there's four," Ichigo said. She gently picked up two kittens, and said, "Kisshu, can you get the other two?"

"Hai," Kisshu said, and picked up the other two. He stood up, and said, "Pai, can you teleport Ichigo?"

"Hai," Pai said. "Ichigo, you're going to have to come over here, I can't see a damn thing out here."

Ichigo went over to Pai and said, "I'm standing in front of you. Grab my shoulder, I've got two of the kittens and I can't use my hands."

Pai reached out and grabbed her shoulder, then said, "Kisshu, I'll take Ichigo, you take the other kittens. Teleport to the Council room."

"Got it," Kisshu said, and Ichigo saw him teleport as Pai teleported her to the Council room. They landed, and saw that the entire Council was there. "How did it go?" one woman asked.

"Well, we found four kittens on a board in the pool, and Ichigo got them out," Pai said. "We brought them back. Kisshu, Ichigo, put them down now."

Ichigo and Kisshu knelt and let the kittens down. One of them was obviously younger than the others, and had brown fur and orange eyes. Another was pure white, with blue eyes, and was a bit older than the others. The other two were both purplish black, and one had green eyes while the other had orange. As soon as they were on the floor, the tiny brown kitten sank his claws into Kisshu's hand. "OW! Taruto, what was that for!?" Kisshu shouted.

"Nya," Taruto said, trying to bite Kisshu. Ichigo pulled Taruto back, and started scratching his ears, which caused him to settle down and start purring.

"Kisshu, you can tell which one is which?"Pai asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Kisshu asked.

"Yes," Ichigo said. "Taruto is the brown one, Aunt Hamaya is the purplish black one with orange eyes, Uncle Aran is the purplish black one with green eyes, and the white one is Siria-sama."

"That's nice, but we need to turn them back," one of the Council members said. "Pai, do you have the means to do that?"

"Unfortunately, the machine I used on Kisshu and Ichigo is still on Earth," Pai said. "It's not a problem to go there, though, so if you want, I can take the kittens to Earth, turn them back, and bring their Cyniclon forms back."

"Is that really a good idea?" another Council member asked.

"Since it's the only way to turn them back that I know of, yes," Pai said. "I just have to let Keiichiro know we're coming."

The Council sighed. "Fine, but if any harm comes to Siria-sama, you're in for it when you get back," said one woman.

"Hai, I understand," Pai said. "Kisshu, Ichigo, let's get going." Kisshu and Ichigo nodded, and picked up the kittens. Pai took Ichigo's shoulder, and teleported to the ship, followed by Kisshu.

Once there, Pai went to a computer screen, and typed something in. Keiichiro's surprised face popped up a few minutes later. "Pai, is something wrong?" he asked.

"Do you still have the equipment we used to turn Kisshu and Ichigo back to their normal forms?" Pai asked.

"Hai, it's in the basement," Keiichiro said. "What happened?"

"Someone stole my kitten research, and used it to turn not only our leader, but my parents and Taruto into kittens," Pai said grimly. "Can we come to Earth?"

"Of course, what's your ETA?" Keiichiro said.

"I'll be there at about noon your time tomorrow," Pai said.

"See you then," Keiichiro said, and when Pai nodded, he cut the connection. Pai turned to Kisshu and Ichigo and said, "Take the kittens to your room, and Kisshu, I need you to copilot. Ichigo, can you handle them?"

"Hai," Ichigo said.

"Then let's get going," Pai said, and teleported to the control room.

**Nice long chapter there. Who do you think stole Pai's research? The answer will be revealed soon! Review!**


	29. Back to Earth

**Betraying My People Chapter 29:**

**Back to Earth**

Kisshu helped Ichigo carry the kittens to their room, and then teleported out. Ichigo got up and closed the door so the kittens couldn't get out. When she turned around, all the kittens were curled up on the bed, sleeping. Ichigo smiled and sat down in the desk chair. _This shouldn't be too hard if they just want to sleep, _she thought.

However, an hour later the kittens were getting hyper. All except for Siria-sama, who was calmly sitting on the bed.

Taruto, on the other hand, turned out to be the most hyper of all the kittens. "Jeez, for something so tiny, you're a real energy ball," Ichigo told Taruto, who was attempting to pounce on Aunt Hamaya's tail- and failing every time. Finally Aunt Hamaya got tired of Taruto trying to attack her tail, and lifted a paw, showing off sharp claws. Taruto backed up, and his ears drooped. Aunt Hamaya and Uncle Aran curled up for another nap, leaving Taruto bored.

Ichigo noticed he was looking at the blankets, and worried he'd start sharpening his claws, she untied one of her hair ribbons, dangling it in front of Taruto, whose eyes went wide. He immediately started batting at the ribbon, and when Ichigo raised it a little higher, he jumped, and bit it. Ichigo raised it a little higher, but since Taruto was such a tiny kitten, he got lifted up by the ribbon. Ichigo noticed and gently set him back down, then picked him up and put him on her lap. Then she got an idea, and as he settled down, she took her hair ribbon and tied it in a bow around Taruto's neck. "There you go," Ichigo said. "Pudding will think you're adorable."

"Myu?" Taruto asked. Suddenly Ichigo realized she could understand him. "Well, Pudding's normally at the Café," she said. "You like her, don't you?"

"_Are you going to tell Kisshu?" _Taruto asked.

"No, he already knows, it's pretty obvious," Ichigo said.

"_Is it really that obvious?" _Taruto asked.

"Yep," Ichigo said. "You should be honest with your feelings, it'll be good for you and Pudding."

"_Does Pudding really like me?" _Taruto asked.

"I'd say so," Ichigo replied.

Taruto sighed and settled down on Ichigo's lap for a catnap. Ichigo smiled and started petting him. He started purring, and fell asleep. Soon all the kittens were sound asleep, and Ichigo was getting tired. She gently moved Taruto next to her pillow, and laid back. Soon she was asleep too.

Five hours later, Ichigo was woken by Kisshu shaking her. "Koneko-chan, we're here," he said when she was awake. "Will you carry some kittens?"

"Sure," Ichigo said. "I'll carry Taruto and Siria-sama." She picked up a sleepy Taruto first, and Kisshu started snickering. "What?" Ichigo asked.

"You gave him a little bow," Kisshu snickered. "Pudding's going to love that."

"That was the idea," Ichigo said. "Besides, I think Taruto looks totally kawaii with the little bow."

"You're probably right, but this ought to be fun, I hope Pudding's actually there," Kisshu said. "I have to admit I'm not a good judge of cuteness- except for you."

"Thanks," Ichigo said, blushing. "Let's get the kittens to Keiichiro."

Kisshu nodded, and picked up Aunt Hamaya and Uncle Aran. Pai came in a minute later and took Ichigo's shoulder, then teleported to the basement of Café Mew Mew.

Keiichiro and all the Mews were waiting for them, and Keiichiro said, "Welcome back. I have the machine ready, who's going first?"

Before anyone could respond, Pudding said, "Can Pudding see what Taru-Taru looks like?"

"Sure," Ichigo said. She handed over the tiny brown kitten with the ribbon, saying, "Don't squeeze him, kittens that age are very delicate."

Pudding gently took Taruto from Ichigo, and said, "Aww, he's got a little ribbon around his neck! Kawaii!"

"I thought you'd like that," Ichigo said. "I think Siria-sama should go first, since Taruto's getting fussed over and she is our leader."

"Sure," Keiichiro said. Ichigo put the white cat on the pedestal, and Keiichiro pressed a button. A light shone down on Siria-sama, and she reverted to her normal form, then floated down. "Thank you for returning me to my normal form," she said to Keiichiro.

"You're welcome," Keiichiro said with a bow. "Should we do the others?"

"Hai," Kisshu said. He put Aunt Hamaya and Uncle Aran on the pedestal together, and soon they were back to normal too. They also thanked Keiichiro, and then Ichigo said, "Okay Pudding-chan, it's time to turn Taruto back."

"Aww…." Pudding said. Nevertheless, she put Taruto on the pedestal, and Keiichiro pressed the button again. Soon after, Taruto floated down and said, "Thanks, Keiichiro."

"Sure," Keiichiro said. "But I think we need to get to the bottom of who's doing this, or you'll be making a lot of trips to Earth."

"You're correct," Siria-sama said. "But I didn't see anything; I was knocked out from behind."

"We didn't see anything either," Aunt Hamaya said. "Taruto, did you see anything?"

"No, someone grabbed me, but I couldn't see them," Taruto said. "Is it possible the kidnapper has the power to turn invisible?"

"That's not a very common power," Siria-sama said. "I didn't think anyone even had that power anymore, and even when it was possible, only one family had that power in their bloodline."

"Can we question the people from this family?" Pai asked.

"We may not need to," Siria-sama said. "To my knowledge, there is only one surviving member of that family. If we find Suzumiya Sanosuke, we may well find our culprit."

"Should we go back then?" Kisshu asked.

"We still haven't figured out one thing," Pai said. "Who does this person want? If they kidnapped my family, they must want both control of the Council and either me, Kisshu or Ichigo. To my knowledge, Suzumiya Sanosuke doesn't know any of us personally. What reason would he have to attempt to kill or harm one of us?"

"You have a point there," Siria-sama said. "But if it wasn't him, then who was it?"

"I'm not sure," Pai admitted. "I also don't know who would have a grudge against one of us. I'm fairly certain this person is not after Ichigo, because she's not as well known as Kisshu or I."

"You're probably right," Siria-sama said. "No one would have a reason to resent Ichigo. I'd say it's more likely that they want Kisshu or you, Pai."

"Did any of you know that Sanosuke has a girlfriend?" Kisshu asked suddenly.

"No, why?" Pai asked.

"His girlfriend has a son from before her husband died, and he's my age," Kisshu said. "And he hates me because I kicked his ass in every practice match we ever had. What if Sanosuke somehow infused this guy with his DNA, to give him the power of invisibility?"

"What's his name?" Siria-sama asked.

"Youshin Mizuki," Kisshu said. "His mother is Youshin Anko."

"Mizuki… wasn't he the one always in trouble at school for beating people up?" Pai asked.

"Yep, that's him," Kisshu said. "He also thought he was better than everyone else. If he's the culprit, I imagine he's just gotten worse as the years went on."

"But why would he kidnap Siria-sama?" Taruto asked.

"If Sanosuke injected him with his DNA, it's possible that Sanosuke is the one who wants to be in control of the Council, and Mizuki is just going along with it to get revenge on Kisshu," Pai said.

"We should get back," Ichigo said. "If he gets to the rest of the Council, we're done for."

"You're right," Siria-sama said. "We need to get back and make sure that doesn't happen."

"Do you need help?" Lettuce asked.

Siria-sama looked thoughtful. "We need to protect not only the Council, but the Ikisatashi family," she said. "Can you come?"

"Hai," Lettuce said. She looked at the others. Zakuro and Mint nodded, Kasumi smiled, and Pudding said, "YAY! Let's go help, na no da!"

"Do you need to ask your parents first?" Aunt Hamaya asked.

"I'll take care of that," Keiichiro said. "You all should go deal with this. Pai, I want you to keep these girls safe."

"Hai," Pai replied, bowing. "I give you my word."

Keiichiro nodded, and Siria-sama said, "Let's go then."

All the Cyniclons grabbed a Mew, and teleported to the ship. They landed in the main room, and Pai said, "Dad, can you copilot?"

"Hai," Uncle Aran said. He and Pai teleported off.

Kisshu smirked and said, "Taruto, have fun with the others, I'm taking Ichigo to our room."

"Don't go too far, got it?" Aunt Hamaya said.

"Hai, hai," Kisshu said. Then he grabbed Ichigo's hand and teleported to their room.

**Okay, I know it's a bad chapter ending, but I'm posting again, so stay tuned and REVIEW!**


	30. Bad News

**Betraying My People Chapter 30:**

**Bad News**

Kisshu and Ichigo landed on their bed and flopped back. Kisshu sighed, and Ichigo looked at him. "Something wrong?" she asked.

"I never understood why Mizuki was such a jerk," Kisshu said. "His dad was really nice, and so is his mom. And now he's breaking the law just to get revenge on me."

"Some people don't turn out well, no matter who raises them," Ichigo said. "Look at Ryou. Keiichiro said his parents were wonderful, and Keiichiro is wonderful too. But Ryou went evil, and in the end it didn't matter who had raised him, he was still an evil person. Some people just aren't good people. It doesn't matter if they had the best parents in the world, they could still turn out to be like Ryou or this guy Mizuki."

"You're probably right," Kisshu said. "And I probably shouldn't worry about it too much, because if we have to take him down, that's all there is to it. It doesn't make sense to worry about why he is the way he is."

Ichigo smiled at Kisshu. "You're right," she said. "We need to focus on keeping our family safe, and saving the Council."

Kisshu took her hand as they sat up. "You always make me feel better," he told her softly.

"I'm glad," Ichigo said with a smile. Kisshu smiled and kissed her.

Suddenly someone knocked on the door, and Kisshu sighed, then called, "Come in!"

The door opened and Siria-sama came in. Ichigo and Kisshu both stood and bowed. Siria-sama smiled and said, "No need to be so formal, I just came in to chat. Everyone else is hiding from Pudding and Taruto, since they both were eating candy. Now they're running around like maniacs." She sighed. "I should have warned the Mews not to bring sugar near Taruto. He gets way too hyper, I've noticed."

"It wouldn't have worked, Pudding would find some way of sneaking candy," Ichigo said. "She apparently can't live without it. She's pretty obsessed."

"Oh well," Siria-sama said. "I actually wanted to thank you both for taking care of me while I was a cat. Not an experience I would wish to repeat, but I thank you both for being so gentle."

"It was our pleasure," Ichigo said. "We've both been kittens; it's pretty easy to understand now how to treat them. I am glad we could get all of you back to normal quickly though, when we were kittens, Kisshu and I got rather embarrassed when we changed back."

"Why?" Siria-sama asked.

"We basically begged Lettuce to bring us home with her, and we were starting to get more kitten-like, so we did some things we never would have done in our normal forms," Kisshu said. "It's a good thing we got turned back when we did though; Ichigo and I both had this moment before we returned to normal where we felt we were meant to stay kittens. Keiichiro said it was from being in kitten form too long; if it had been much longer, we wouldn't have been able to change back."

"Well, I guess I should thank you for getting me and the others there so quickly," Siria-sama said. "I noticed Taruto was very hyper while in kitten form."

"Kittens in general are pretty hyper, and judging by the fact that he was about three weeks old, it makes sense," Ichigo said. "That's why I started petting him, it calms cats down when you pet them. It was cute when he fell asleep in my lap."

"I noticed that you seemed to be talking with him," Siria-sama said. "Can you understand cats?"

"I could understand him, so I assume so," Ichigo said. "I think it's something new, though; either that or I just have to concentrate. I don't remember being able to understand Kisshu the first time he turned into a kitten."

"Interesting," Siria-sama said. Then she asked a strange question. "Ichigo, did you know that in our culture parents usually arrange marriages for their children?"

"No," Ichigo said. "That happens sometimes in my culture too, but more often people marry for love rather than their parents' wishes. It used to be that everyone had arranged marriages, though. Why do you ask?"

"Have Aran and Hamaya talked to you about the subject of marriage at all?" Siria-sama asked.

"Just once, when I mentioned that I assumed that I would take the name Ikisatashi someday anyways, I didn't mind taking it now," Ichigo said. "We were talking about adoption."

"I see," Siria-sama said. "So you intend to marry Kisshu someday?"

"Hai," Ichigo said. "I know that's what I want, and I think that's what he wants too- right Kisshu?"

"Hai," Kisshu said. "I can't imagine marrying anyone but Ichigo."

"You two are very lucky then," Siria-sama said. "It's good that your adoptive parents approve of you two together."

"I'm glad of that too," Kisshu said. "It would be hard if Aunt Hamaya and Uncle Aran didn't want Ichigo. But she took good care of me and Pai and Taruto, and they're very happy with her- not to mention she's a great cook."

"Thanks Kisshu," Ichigo said, blushing. "It's a good thing, though, since Pai is such a disaster. It's a good thing you didn't see what he tried to do while you were recovering from the banana you ate; he said he tried to make soup, but it looked like lumpy glue, and it was burning. I told him to take it off the stove, clean up the mess, and stay out of the kitchen. I didn't want the smoke alarm going off."

"Thanks," Kisshu said. "The smoke alarm is really painful, and I really wasn't feeling good already."

"What are bananas?" Siria-sama asked.

"It's a type of Earth fruit that I'm very allergic to," Kisshu said. "They taste good, but I get really sick, so I stay away from them. I think it's good they don't grow on our planet."

"Is there a lot of fruit on Earth?" Siria-sama asked. "There's next to none on our planet."

"There's a ton of fruit," Ichigo said. "I like strawberries best."

"So do I," Kisshu said. "I had them, and they reminded me of Ichigo, not to mention they're sweet and juicy."

"I wonder if Earth fruit could be grown on our planet," Siria-sama said thoughtfully.

"Pai could figure that out," Kisshu said. "And I bet Keiichiro would help."

"I'll talk to them about it then," Siria-sama said.

The intercom came on and said, _"We're entering the atmosphere of Cyniclonia, please stay seated."_

The ship got bumpy for a while, then evened out and landed. Pai came in a few minutes later and said, "We're here."

"Thank you, Pai," Siria-sama said.

"Of course," Pai said, bowing. "The others are in the main room, but my parents put Taruto and Pudding in a forcefield, so we'll have to wait to let them out. Should we go to the Council?"

"Hai, but we should be careful," Siria-sama said.

Pai nodded, and walked out, followed by Siria-sama, Kisshu and Ichigo. They reached the main room, and Pai asked, "Is everyone ready?"

"Hai," the others responded.

"Alright, we're teleporting to the Council meeting room, so all of you who can't teleport, grab one of us," Pai said. The others obeyed, and soon they were standing in the middle of the Council meeting room. Strangely, it was empty.

"That's odd, someone's supposed to be here at all times," Siria-sama said. She looked worried.

Suddenly they heard a small, "Myu?" A black and white kitten came out from under a chair, where it had been hiding. It walked over and said, "Nyan, myuu myuu."

"WHAT!?" Kisshu and Ichigo shouted together. "Every member of the Council has been kidnapped?"

The others looked shocked. Ichigo and Kisshu both knelt, then Ichigo asked, "Were they turned into kittens as well?"

The kitten shook his head. "Myuu, nya nya. Nyan, myuu!"

"You were only turned into a kitten because you tried to fight?" Kisshu asked. The kitten nodded.

"What's your name?" Ichigo asked.

"Myuu nya," the kitten said. Kisshu looked shocked and said, "Hiro-sama!?" The kitten nodded again.

"Who did all this?" Siria-sama asked.

"Myuu nyan, nya myuu nyan nyan. Nya!" Hiro-sama said.

Kisshu looked up at Siria-sama and said, "I was right, Mizuki and Sanosuke are working together."

"Is there any way of finding out where they went?" Siria-sama asked.

"If I had DNA from someone I could probably track them," Pai said.

"MYUU!" Hiro-sama said loudly, and ran over to a spot by the back wall. Pai went over, and said, "This is perfect, thank you Hiro-sama."

Hiro-sama came back as Pai took a hankerchief out of his pocket, and swiped something off the floor. He came back and said, "One of them was injured. I will get right to work trying to track this person down. My assumption is that they're all together."

"Please do," Siria-sama said. Pai bowed and teleported out.

Kisshu and Ichigo looked down at Hiro-sama, who was looking rather depressed. "What do we do to turn him back?" Kisshu asked. "I don't exactly want to be running to Earth every time someone turns into a kitten."

"Well, when you turned into a kitten the first time, I kissed you and you went back to normal," Ichigo said. "I don't think it's a good idea to disturb Pai right now. Should we try that?"

Kisshu sighed. "Siria-sama?" he asked.

"If you think it might work, we might as well," Siria-sama said.

Ichigo nodded and picked up Hiro-sama, then kissed him on the nose. Then she put him back down. Sure enough, he began to glow, and soon after, reverted back to his normal form. Ichigo and Kisshu got to their feet as he did.

Hiro-sama sighed and said, "Thank you, Ichigo. I appreciate you turning me back."

"You're welcome," Ichigo said. "I guess all we do now is wait for Pai to find out where the person he's searching for is."

"Yeah…" the others said.

**I think I'll work on something else for a while, so this is it for tonight. Review!**


	31. Search and Rescue

**Betraying My People Chapter 31:**

**Search and Rescue**

Everyone was sitting around in the Council room. They had been there for about two hours, and were getting bored. Just when Taruto was about to scream from boredom, Pai teleported in and said, "I found him."

"Who was it?" Siria-sama asked.

"The blood was Choji-sama's, and I've pinpointed his location," Pai said. "I think all the other members of the Council are there as well. The place I found is a large abandoned building on the outskirts of the town. I can lead you all there, but we need a plan first."

"You're right," Hiro-sama said. "I think we need to split up. Someone needs to protect Siria-sama and Hamaya and Aran. And we can't send a large group, you'll be noticed right away."

"That makes sense," Pai said. "I guess we should form groups. Hiro-sama, were you planning on fighting?"

"Hai," Hiro-sama said. "But I think you should form the groups."

"Alright," Pai said. "Mew Mint, Mew Zakuro, Taruto, Mew Pudding, you will stay here and protect Mom, Dad and Siria-sama. The rest of you will come with me and save the Council."

"That sounds fine," Siria-sama said. "Pai, can you be the leader?"

"Hai," Pai said. He turned to the others and said, "Come with me." They all nodded, and Pai led them off.

Pai's group got outside, and Pai said, "All of you who can't teleport grab one of us. Kisshu, Hiro-sama, I'll implant the image into your minds."

Kisshu and Hiro-sama came over, and Pai put a finger on each of their foreheads, then implanted the image into their minds. "There," he said finally. "Now, grab one of the Mews, and let's go."

Kisshu grabbed Ichigo, Pai grabbed Lettuce, and Hiro-sama grabbed Kasumi. Then they all teleported to the front of a big building. "We should be quiet about this," Pai said. "Let's split up into pairs. Take whoever you teleported with, and let's go in and start looking around."

"Hai," the others said. Pai quietly opened the door, which surprisingly wasn't creaky. They walked in together, then split up. Kisshu and Ichigo started up the stairs, Pai and Lettuce went down one hallway, and Hiro-sama and Kasumi went down another.

_**With Kisshu and Ichigo: **_They reached the top of the staircase, and looked around. They noticed there was a closed door at the end of the hallway, and went to check it out.

_**With Hiro-sama and Kasumi: **_They went into each room down the hall cautiously, but found nothing besides cobwebs. Finally they came to the last door, which was wide open for some reason. Kasumi carefully looked around the door, and saw a bedroom. Someone was in the bed, and she pulled back quickly, holding a finger to her lips when she saw Hiro-sama about to speak. Before either of them could do anything more, though, a net fell on them and they were pulled into the air. The person in the bedroom came out and said, "Well, it looks like I got two for the price of one."

_**With Lettuce and Pai: **_The two came to a door, but this one was locked. Pai touched the door handle cautiously- and suddenly blacked out. Lettuce caught him, and set him down quietly. Knowing better than to touch the door, she started trying to wake Pai up.

_**Back with Kasumi and Hiro-sama: **_"What is it you want?" Kasumi asked.

"Control of the Council," the man said. "I'm impressed you managed to return to normal, Hiro. How'd you manage that?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Hiro-sama said. "Do you seriously believe you'll get away with this, Sanosuke?"

"Once my new brainwashing machine is complete, I will," Sanosuke said confidently. "I'll need to keep all of you here for a while though. I wonder how Mizuki's doing with Kisshu."

"So we were right, Mizuki wants revenge on Kisshu," Kasumi said. Suddenly it looked like she had an idea, and she said, "Mist Daggers!" Her daggers appeared, and she cut herself and Hiro-sama out of the net. Sanosuke was shocked.

"How did you do that!? My traps cancel out Cyniclon powers!" Sanosuke shouted.

"I'm a Mew Mew, I'm only half Cyniclon," Kasumi said. "My powers are different."

Sanosuke took out a sword, and Hiro-sama did too. As Sanosuke lunged, Hiro-sama and Kasumi dodged.

Their fight was beginning…

_**Back with Kisshu and Ichigo: **_They reached the closed door, and Kisshu pressed his ear against it. "There are people in there," he whispered to Ichigo. "Let's be careful."

Ichigo nodded, and opened the door slightly. They heard evil laughter, then a voice said, "Well, are you coming in?"

Ichigo and Kisshu looked at each other, then flung the door open. They saw all the Council members tied up against the back wall, but what caught their attention was a boy Kisshu's age with dark blue hair and black eyes, standing in the middle of the room with a smirk on his face.

Kisshu snarled and said, "Mizuki. Why did you do all this?"

"I wanted revenge on you for humiliating me time and time again, so when Sanosuke offered me a chance in return for helping him take down the Council, I was more than happy to accept," Mizuki said. His smirk faded as he said, "You always had to be better than me. It was irritating when we were kids, and it's still irritating. But this time will be different, since I'm going to win this time."

"Yeah right," Kisshu scoffed. "You sucked all through training, you couldn't even beat Kiri, and you expect me to believe you can beat me?"

"I've changed," Mizuki said. "Are you ready?"

"Hai," Kisshu said. "Ichigo, stay out of this."

Since he only called her Ichigo when he was serious, Ichigo simply nodded and stood against the wall. Then she realized while Mizuki was distracted, she could get the Council members out. As Mizuki and Kisshu started fighting, Ichigo edged around them, staying against the wall, until she reached the back wall. She noticed they were all unconscious, but she still started untying them. As she did, she realized why they were all unconscious- the knots were extremely easy to untie. They must have been put under a spell. When she was done untying all of them, she noticed they were starting to wake up. She looked over at Kisshu and Mizuki, who were totally absorbed in fighting, then turned back to the Council, and said, "Can all of you teleport?"

They nodded, and Ichigo said, "Teleport to the Council meeting room, Siria-sama is there, along with some others who are protecting her and Aran and Hamaya."

"Is Siria-sama okay?" one woman asked.

"Hai, she's fine," Ichigo said. "Go, while Kisshu is distracting Mizuki." The Coucil members nodded, and they all teleported out. Ichigo sighed and turned back to the fight, just as Mizuki used his sword to try to cut Kisshu's neck. Kisshu dodged, but got a small slash on his cheek. Ignoring it, he lunged forward, and Mizuki flew back. Kisshu teleported behind him and tapped him on the shoulder. "Why do you always have to do that!? I hate being mocked!" Mizuki screamed.

"So do I, but did that stop you from coming up with about a million nasty jokes about my hair?" Kisshu asked. "Payback, loser." With that he stabbed Mizuki in the shoulder, causing him to drop his blade. Kisshu quickly kicked it out of reach, and it skidded to a stop in front of Ichigo. She picked it up as Kisshu formed an energy ball that Mizuki teleported away from.

Suddenly Ichigo noticed Kisshu was looking a bit paler than usual. Not wanting to distract him, she didn't say anything- until Mizuki smirked and said, "I see the poison's taking effect. Finally."

"You had _poison_ on your sword!?" Kisshu asked.

"That's its ability," Mizuki said. "You can create balls of pure energy, I can poison people."

"Jeez, I didn't know you were such a coward that even your weapon thinks so," Kisshu said. "Poisoning the enemy instead of beating them fair and square? Where's your pride? Oh that's right- you're such a loser that you don't have any."

"You're pretty cocky for someone who's going to die in about an hour," Mizuki snarled.

Kisshu smirked. "I have an hour? That's good to know," he said. "That's still enough time to kill you." With that he lunged forward, and stabbed a shocked Mizuki through the heart. Mizuki coughed up blood, then collapsed.

Kisshu let his Dragon Swords disappear, and dropped to his knees. Ichigo noticed he was gasping for air, and dropping Mizuki's blade, ran over to him.

Kisshu looked at Ichigo, and said, "I don't feel good, can you help?"

"I'll heal you, lie down," Ichigo said. Kisshu obeyed, and Ichigo put her hands over his heart, then began to glow. As usual, the glow flowed into Kisshu, and slowly faded five minutes later. "How are you feeling now?" Ichigo asked Kisshu.

"I feel tired," Kisshu said.

Ichigo sighed. "That was tough, the poison was trying to reach your heart," she said. "I got rid of it, but you might be a little out of it for a while. I think we should find the others, can you get up?"

Kisshu sat up, but walking was a problem. Ichigo noticed and said, "Are you able to teleport?"

"Hai, I just can't walk," Kisshu said.

"Then teleport to the Council room, I'll go help the others," Ichigo said.

"Are you sure you'll be okay?" Kisshu asked, worried.

"I'll be fine, so go on," Ichigo said. Kisshu still looked unsure, but teleported out. Ichigo sighed and stood up, then left the room, on her way to find Pai and Lettuce.

**Well, Mizuki is dead. And Kisshu can't fight. And what's happening to the others? Review and find out!**


	32. Fighting

**Betraying My People Chapter 32:**

**Fighting**

_**With Kisshu: **_Kisshu teleported back to the Council room. He tried to stand, but fell back. This brought the others running. "Kisshu, what happened?" Aunt Hamaya asked worriedly. "A while ago, the whole Council teleported back in here, saying Ichigo had freed them, and you were fighting Mizuki. Did you get hurt?"

"Mizuki had poison on his blade, and I got a cut on my cheek," Kisshu said. "Ichigo managed to counteract the poison with her powers, but I can't walk right now. She said I might be a little out of it for a while."

"Where is Ichigo?" Siria-sama asked.

"She went to find the others, and told me to come back here, since I can't fight right now," Kisshu said.

"And Mizuki?" Siria-sama asked.

"I killed him," Kisshu said. "Luckily I managed it before I collapsed. He's still not a very good fighter."

"Do you know anything about Sanosuke?" Siria-sama asked.

"Only that he wants control of the Council, and Mizuki was helping him in exchange for a chance to kill me," Kisshu said. "I don't even know if Sanosuke was in the same building, though I assume the others would know."

"Very well, good job," Siria-sama said. "I hope the others are alright."

_**With Ichigo: **_Ichigo came around a corner after going down the stairs, and saw Lettuce and Pai, but Pai appeared to be unconscious. "Lettuce, what happened?" Ichigo asked, coming over.

"Pai touched that doorknob and blacked out," Lettuce said. "And I can't wake him up."

"Let me see," Ichigo said. She came over and put a hand on Pai's forehead for a minute, then said, "He's just unconscious, so it shouldn't be hard for me to wake him up." She tapped Pai's forehead, and he slowly opened his eyes.

"Ichigo? Lettuce?" he asked, puzzled. "What happened?"

"You touched that doorknob, and then you blacked out," Lettuce said. "Ichigo came and woke you up."

"Ichigo, where is Kisshu?" Pai asked.

"I sent him back, Mizuki poisoned him," Ichigo said. "I managed to counteract the poison, but he can't walk, so I sent him back to the others. I also freed the Council members."

"What happened to Mizuki?" Pai asked.

"Kisshu killed him," Ichigo said. "Just in time too, if he had kept on fighting much longer, the poison would have reached his heart."

"Is Kisshu going to be okay?" Pai asked.

"He'll be fine with some rest," Ichigo replied. "Should we go see where Kasumi and Hiro-sama are?"

"Good idea," Pai said. He got up, and the girls followed him down the hall.

_**With Kasumi, Hiro-sama and Sanosuke: **_Sanosuke and Hiro-sama had both told Kasumi to stay out of their fight, so she was up against the wall, watching as the two dueled with their swords. Suddenly Sanosuke teleported behind Hiro-sama, and hit him in the back of the head with his sword hilt. Hiro-sama collapsed, unconscious. Before Sanosuke could do any more, Kasumi shouted, "Mist Daggers!" Her daggers appeared in her hands, and as Sanosuke turned, she lunged forward. She knew using her Mist Flame attack in a wooden house was dangerous, so she had to use her daggers alone. Sanosuke took his attention away from Hiro-sama, and lunged at Kasumi. Kasumi dodged, and slashed out with one of her daggers. To her surprise, as she slashed, her dagger appeared to be glowing, and words came to mind. "Ribon… Mist Energy Slash!" Kasumi shouted, and a wave of energy flew at Sanosuke. He dodged, but still got a slash on his arm. He switched his sword to his left hand, and lunged again, trying to bring his sword down on Kasumi's head. She raised her daggers in an X and caught the blade between her own blades.

Sanosuke's eyes widened, and he tried to break away. Kasumi wasn't having that, and she twisted her daggers, sending Sanosuke's sword flying. Then she felt a strange sensation, and suddenly she was in front of the flying blade. She immediately caught it, then said, "Did I just teleport?"

"Yes, you've never teleported before?" Sanosuke asked.

"No," Kasumi replied. Then she switched gears and said, "What are you going to do without a weapon?"

"This," Sanosuke said, and raised his hands, forming a ball of energy and sending it at Kasumi. She let her daggers disappear and slashed the energy ball with Sanosuke's sword. It vanished. Sanosuke snarled and launched himself at Kasumi as she lunged forward with the sword. This produced the exact result you'd expect- Sanosuke ended up impaled on the blade of his own sword. Kasumi, wide-eyed, pulled the blade out as Sanosuke coughed up blood and collapsed. That was about when Pai, Ichigo and Lettuce ran into the hallway, and stopped dead. "Kasumi, are you okay?" Ichigo asked.

"I'm… fine," Kasumi said. "I've never killed anyone before, though."

"Well, you saved the Council," Lettuce said. "And hopefully you'll never have to kill again."

"Is Hiro-sama alright?" Pai asked.

"Sanosuke knocked him out while they were fighting," Kasumi said. "I know they told me to stay out of it, but I didn't want Sanosuke to kill Hiro-sama, so I disobeyed."

Ichigo came over and put a hand on Hiro-sama's forehead, then tapped his forehead twice. He slowly woke up and said, "What happened?"

"I killed Sanosuke after he knocked you out," Kasumi said.

Hiro-sama stood up and said, "Very good work, Kasumi. Now the Council will be safe."

Kasumi blushed slightly and said, "It was no problem."

Hiro-sama smiled at her and said, "What happened to Mizuki?"

"Kisshu killed him," Ichigo said.

"And where is Kisshu?" Hiro-sama asked.

"I sent him back, there was poison on Mizuki's sword," Ichigo said. "I managed to counteract it, but Kisshu's still unable to fight, so I told him to go back to the rest of the Council. I set the others free while Kisshu was fighting Mizuki."

"Wonderful," Hiro-sama said with relief. "Well done."

"I was happy to help," Ichigo said.

"Let's go back," Pai said. He took Lettuce and Ichigo by the shoulder, and Hiro-sama took Kasumi's hand. Then they teleported back to the Council room.

Everyone looked up as they teleported in. "How did it go?" Siria-sama asked.

"Kasumi killed Sanosuke," Hiro-sama replied. "We are safe now."

"Good work, thank you Kasumi," Siria-sama said.

"It was no trouble," Kasumi said, blushing.

Ichigo, meanwhile, had gone over to Kisshu, who was sitting on the floor. "Kisshu, how are you feeling?" she asked.

"I'm still pretty tired," Kisshu admitted. "And I still can't stand up."

"You should get some rest," Ichigo said. "Maybe we should go home."

"I guess you're right," Kisshu said. "We have to ask permission to leave first."

"I'll go," Ichigo said, and got up. She went to Siria-sama, bowed, and said, "Will you let me take Kisshu home? He needs to rest to recover."

"Of course," Siria-sama said. "Can he teleport?"

"I'm not sure," Ichigo replied.

"Take Aran and Hamaya with you then," Siria-sama said. "There's nothing more to do here now that we're safe from Mizuki and Sanosuke."

"Thank you," Ichigo said. She bowed again and went to Uncle Aran and Aunt Hamaya. They looked at her, and she said, "Siria-sama says we can take Kisshu home. He needs to rest, can you teleport both of us?"

"Sure," Uncle Aran said. They went over to Kisshu, who was looking sleepy, and Uncle Aran said, "Kisshu, we're going home."

"Good," Kisshu said. "I'm really tired."

Uncle Aran picked him up, while Aunt Hamaya took Ichigo's hand. Then they all teleported out.

They landed in the main room, and Uncle Aran carried Kisshu to his room and put him to bed. He was asleep in seconds. Ichigo said softly, "Is it okay for me to stay with him?"

"Sure," Uncle Aran said. He left, and Ichigo sat down next to Kisshu.

**Okay, I KNOW it's short, but I might be using another idea soon, so stay tuned. And Review!**


	33. Jealousy

**Betraying My People Chapter 33:**

**Jealousy**

Ichigo was in the room she shared with Kisshu, watching him sleep. She had been there for a few hours, and though she knew Kisshu needed rest, she was worried about him. Finally she placed a hand on his chest and concentrated. She didn't sense anything wrong, so she figured he was just tired.

About two hours later, Kisshu started to stir. He opened his eyes, and looked at Ichigo. "How are you feeling?" Ichigo asked him.

"I feel a lot better," Kisshu said. "I think I can stand up." He tried, and sure enough, no problem.

Ichigo was relieved as she stood up too. "I'm glad you're okay," she told Kisshu.

"Thanks Koneko-chan," Kisshu said. "Do you know what time it is?"

"No, why?" Ichigo asked.

"I'm hungry," Kisshu said.

"Let's go see the others," Ichigo said. "I'm sure Aunt Hamaya will have something." She and Kisshu walked out of their room, and into the main room. Aunt Hamaya and Uncle Aran were the only ones there, and they looked up as Ichigo and Kisshu came in.

"Kisshu, you're awake!" Aunt Hamaya said. "Are you feeling better?"

"Yeah, I feel a lot better," Kisshu said. "Is there anything to eat around here? I'm really hungry."

"Sure, we already ate, but we left you some dinner in the kitchen," Uncle Aran said.

"Thanks," Kisshu said, and he and Ichigo went into the kitchen, and found two bowls of some noodle dish. They both picked up a pair of chopsticks, and went to the table to eat. As they were finishing, Aunt Hamaya said, "It's almost eleven, you should probably go to bed. Pai and Taruto will be back tomorrow; they were taking the Mews home."

"Alright," Ichigo said. "I am a bit tired."

"I'm not," Kisshu said.

"That's because you slept for five hours after we brought you home," Uncle Aran said. "You should just try to get some rest. We're going to bed soon too."

Kisshu sighed, then took Ichigo's hand and teleported back to their room. Ichigo got into bed, and Kisshu laid down next to her. He wasn't sleepy, but enjoyed Ichigo snuggling up to him as she fell asleep. He started petting her hair, and she leaned into his hand. Due to the serum Keiichiro had developed, neither of them purred anymore, but at least the motion was soothing to both of them. After about half an hour of petting Ichigo, Kisshu was getting sleepy, and soon after, he fell sound asleep.

The next morning they both woke up, and Kisshu said, "Should we go on a walk?"

"Sure, that would be nice," Ichigo said.

Kisshu smiled, and after they finished getting dressed, they went outside. It was another beautiful day, with a bit of a breeze. Just as they reached the woods, a boy about Kisshu's age came out of the trees. He smirked when he saw them. "Well, you finally got a girlfriend?" he asked.

"Yes," Kisshu said shortly.

"I think it's interesting that the kid nobody liked 'cause he was so much better than them gets a pretty girlfriend, while I'm still single," the boy said.

"You're still single because you're a complete jerk," Kisshu snarled. "And girls don't like jerks- especially jerks with no brains or fighting skills."

The boy turned red, and shouted, "Just because you're the best warrior on our planet doesn't mean the rest of us are bad!"

"I know, but you have no skill, even with your own weapon," Kisshu said. "There are plenty of good fighters on this planet. You're not one of them. I'll say this, you're better than Mizuki, though. Even his weapon thought he was a coward."

"Mizuki was the worst fighter the school ever saw," the boy snarled. "That's not a compliment."

"Do you honestly believe I'd compliment the guy who started the name 'obnoxious grass kid'?" Kisshu asked.

"Well, it's true," the boy said. "You are pretty obnoxious. And your hair looks like grass."

Kisshu turned red, but before he could do anything to the boy, Ichigo said, "You're just jealous, aren't you?"

"Jealous of having green hair? As if!" the boy scoffed.

"No, I meant jealous of Kisshu's skill," Ichigo said. "Although I think Kisshu has beautiful hair. It's such a nice color."

The boy looked shocked, but then angry as he turned back to Kisshu. "You always get the best everything!" he shouted. "Just you wait, someday I'll be the one who's got the best of everything. And then you can watch as I take your girlfriend away from you!"

Kisshu's eyes started to glow. This didn't seem to faze the boy, who teleported behind Ichigo, then grabbed her and teleported away, leaving Kisshu in shock.

_**With Ichigo: **_Ichigo closed her eyes, then opened them as she felt solid ground under her feet. She turned and glared at the boy. "Why did you kidnap me? I don't even know you!" she said angrily.

"Kisshu can't have everything," the boy said. "I'm going to find a way to get rid of him, and then you'll fall for me."

"Like that'll ever happen," Ichigo snarled. "Killing my boyfriend would immediately make you my enemy. If you want to stay alive, I'd suggest leaving Kisshu and me alone."

"As if," the boy said dismissively. "What could you do to stop me anyways?"

"This," Ichigo said, and transformed. Then she got out her weapon and said, "Do you really believe you can just kidnap me and not suffer any consequences? I can take care of myself, and watch Kisshu's back at the same time."

The boy looked shocked. Ichigo mentally rolled her eyes and said, "If you seriously believed you could just kidnap me and I'd fall in love with you, you were wrong. I guess Kisshu was right, you really don't have any brains."

Obviously that had hit a nerve, because the boy took out a sword of his own, and said, "Then you'll die. If you won't be mine, you can die. But don't worry, your boyfriend will be joining you soon." With that he lunged at her, as she readied her sword.

_**With Kisshu: **_Kisshu was literally shaking with rage. He couldn't even calm down enough to sense where Ichigo was. Unfortunately, he also hadn't noticed the pair of green eyes in the woods, watching him in preparation for the right moment to strike.

_**In the woods: **_A boy a little younger than Kisshu was watching as Kisshu stood stock still. His name was Amaguchi Yusuke, and he was the younger brother of the boy Ichigo was fighting. He was also Taruto's best friend. His older brother Kuro had blackmailed and forced him into helping take down Kisshu, but he was NOT happy with the idea of sneaking up on Cyniclonia's best warrior, no matter what state of mind he was in. As Yusuke started to aim a poison dart at Kisshu, Taruto's face popped into his mind, and he lowered his hand. _How can I kill Kisshu? Taruto will never forgive me if he finds out, _Yusuke thought. He thought, then, for the first time ever, he disobeyed his older brother, and came out of the woods. Kisshu turned quickly, as Yusuke stepped on a branch. He seemed to be slightly calmer when he saw it was just Yusuke- until he saw what Yusuke was holding, and his eyes started to glow again. Yusuke gulped and said, "You can use these to defeat Kuro. He blackmailed me into killing you, but I know Taruto's never going to forgive me if I do that. I don't want to lose my best friend. You need to stop my brother, or things will just get worse!"

Kisshu's eyes stopped glowing, but he suddenly grabbed Yusuke's shoulder and teleported. Yusuke's eyes widened when they landed; they were standing in front of the door to the Council room.

"What is your brother's plan?" Kisshu asked.

"He wants to kill you, and then take your girlfriend after making it look like you committed suicide," Yusuke said. "I don't think his plan will work, but that's never stopped him in the past."

"Let's go, you're going to tell the Council what you know, and then we'll go save Ichigo," Kisshu said. Yusuke looked nervous, but didn't have much of a choice as Kisshu knocked on the door.

"Who's there?" they heard.

"Ikisatashi Kisshu and Amaguchi Yusuke," Kisshu called out. "There's a problem."

"Come in," another voice said. Kisshu pushed the door opened and dragged a very nervous Yusuke into the Council room.

"What's the problem?" Hiro-sama asked. It was just him and Siria-sama today.

Kisshu nudged Yusuke, who said nervously, "My brother Kuro plans to kill Kisshu."

"Is there more to it?" Siria-sama asked, her voice gentle.

"Hai, he kidnapped Ichigo, and told me I had to kill Kisshu and that if I didn't, he'd tell Mom that Taruto was a bad influence and that I shouldn't see him anymore," Yusuke said. "But I didn't want to kill Kisshu, so I told him to use the poison darts Kuro gave me to kill Kuro. Then Kisshu dragged me here. We have to stop my brother!"

"I understand," Siria-sama said. "Hiro-sama, go with Kisshu and find Ichigo. I'll take Yusuke home; his mother needs to know about this."

"Hai," Hiro-sama said. "Kisshu, do you know where Ichigo is?"

"Kuro was taking her to the house where Mizuki and Sanosuke were killed," Yusuke said.

"Thank you," Kisshu said. "Hiro-sama, should we go?"

"Hai, let's go," Hiro-sama said. They teleported out, leaving Yusuke and Siria-sama alone.

"Yusuke, I need to talk to your mother, so I'm going to teleport us both to your house," Siria-sama said. "I don't think it's a good idea for you to be wandering around alone."

"Th-thank you, Siria-sama," Yusuke said. Siria-sama smiled and took him by the hand, then teleported to his front door and knocked. The door was opened by Yusuke's mother, who took one look at the two of them, and said, "Did something happen?"

"Hai, may we come in?" Siria-sama asked.

"Hai, of course," Mrs. Amaguchi said. She let them in and said, "Do you want to sit down?"

"It's fine," Siria-sama said. "Ikisatashi Kisshu brought Yusuke to the Council today, and Yusuke informed us that your son Kuro has kidnapped Kisshu's girlfriend and plans on killing Kisshu. Kuro apparently blackmailed Yusuke into trying to kill Kisshu with some poison darts, but Yusuke did the right thing, and told all this to Kisshu, then to me."

"Yusuke, WHY would you take poison darts from your brother, even if he blackmailed you?" Mrs. Amaguchi asked, horrified.

"Kuro said that if I didn't kill Kisshu, he'd tell you that I shouldn't hang out with Taruto," Yusuke said sadly. "I don't want to lose Taruto as a friend."

"We'll talk about this later," Mrs. Amaguchi said. "Siria-sama, what is happening with Kuro?"

"I sent Hiro-sama and Kisshu to find him," Siria-sama said. "I did not tell them what to do once they found him, I will leave that up to Hiro-sama's judgement."

Mrs. Amaguchi sighed. "I understand," she said. "I will abide by their decision, whatever it may be. I recognize his actions are unacceptable, and that obviously I went wrong somewhere. Thank you for bringing Yusuke home."

"You're welcome," Siria-sama said. "I have to get back. Either myself or Hiro-sama will inform you of what happens."

"Thank you," Mrs. Amaguchi said softly. Siria-sama nodded and teleported out.

**Sort of a bad chapter ending… but there'll be more soon! Review! **


	34. Rage

**Betraying My People Chapter 34:**

**Rage**

_**With Ichigo and Kuro: **_ Kuro and Ichigo had been fighting for about ten minutes, and they were evenly matched. They were both using swords, and they had similar strength in attacks. Ichigo had never had any formal training with her sword, but in this case, it didn't matter. Kisshu had been right- Kuro wasn't that great.

"So, what's your weapon's ability?" Kuro asked Ichigo, dodging a thrust of her sword.

"What's it to you?" Ichigo snarled.

"Just curious," Kuro said. "Mine's fire."

"Mine too," Ichigo said. "But it's dangerous to use that in a wooden house."

"That's why I haven't roasted you yet," Kuro said. "So why did you fall in love with grass boy in the first place?"

"None of your business," Ichigo snapped. "And don't call Kisshu 'grass boy'."

"Why? His hair looks like grass," Kuro said, smirking.

"I think it looks like emeralds," Ichigo said.

"What's an emerald? Some kind of plant?" Kuro asked.

"No, it's a very pretty green stone that's used in jewelry," Ichigo said.

"I find it amazing that Kisshu actually found someone who doesn't think his hair is weird," Kuro said.

"I don't understand why you think it's weird," Ichigo said, dodging another thrust of Kuro's sword.

"Not many Cyniclons have green hair," Kuro said, shrugging. "It's unusual."

"So that makes it okay to tease someone just because he has an unusual hair color?" Ichigo asked. "How would you feel if someone teased you about your hair constantly?"

"No one would, I have a normal hair color," Kuro said.

"I meant if you had an unusual hair color and people teased you because of that," Ichigo said. "Do you think it would be fun to be teased constantly about something you have no control over?"

"No…." Kuro said. "I got teased, though."

"About what?" Ichigo asked.

"My skills," Kuro said.

"That's something you have control over," Ichigo said. "Maybe if you had worked harder, instead of teasing Kisshu, you would be better at fighting."

Kuro stopped dead, and Ichigo had to stop as well, or end up with her sword in his throat. She backed up a bit. Kuro looked like he was in shock. "I take it you never considered that?" Ichigo said.

Kuro didn't respond. He looked frozen, so Ichigo walked over and snapped her fingers in his face. He still didn't respond. Ichigo poked him- and he fell over. "Jeez, what happened to YOU?" she asked.

Kuro didn't respond, but suddenly teleportation sounded in the room, and Kisshu and Hiro-sama appeared.

Ichigo turned, and Kisshu said, "Ichigo! Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Ichigo said with a smile. "I don't know about him, though." She pointed to Kuro.

"Jeez, what'd you do to him?" Kisshu asked as Hiro-sama went over.

"I honestly don't know," Ichigo admitted. "We were talking about teasing while fighting, and he said he got teased about his lack of skill. Then I told him that maybe if he hadn't spent all his time teasing you, he'd be a better fighter, because he would have spent more time learning and practicing. And then he froze up. I snapped my fingers in his face, and when that didn't work, I poked him. Then he fell over, and that's about when you and Hiro-sama came in."

Hiro-sama came over and said, "He looks like he's in a state of extreme shock, but I can't imagine that what you described could have caused that. Maybe he has some kind of medical condition?"

Kisshu thought, then said, "I don't think he does, but I could be wrong."

A voice came from behind them, and they jumped as the voice said, "Actually, he's paralyzed." Yusuke came out from behind a bunch of boxes, and held out a dart gun. Kisshu took it, and said, "This is for those tiny paralysis darts, right?"

"Hai," Yusuke said. "I snuck out and came to find Ichigo and Kuro, and when Ichigo told him that he should have spent less time teasing you, I felt his emotions go straight to rage. So I shot him with a paralysis dart. That's why he gave me those poison darts earlier; I'm a better shot than he is."

"Thanks, Yusuke," Ichigo said. Yusuke smiled.

Kisshu sighed and turned to Hiro-sama. "What should we do with Kuro now?" he asked.

"I suppose we should drag him back to the Council room," Hiro-sama said. "Ichigo, Kisshu, take Yusuke home and explain the situation, I will handle Kuro."

"Hai," Kisshu said. He took Ichigo and Yusuke by the hand, and teleported to the Amaguchis' front door. Then he knocked, and soon after, the door was yanked open by Mrs. Amaguchi, who took one look at Yusuke and said, "Do you have any idea how worried I was? You're grounded, young man!"

"Um, excuse me?" Kisshu said.

"Yes?" Mrs. Amaguchi asked.

"Yusuke saved Ichigo, do you really need to ground him?" Kisshu asked.

"I guess I can save it till I hear the full story," Mrs. Amaguchi said. "Come in, and you can tell me what happened."

Kisshu, Ichigo and Yusuke followed her to the main room, and sat down. When they were all settled, Mrs. Amaguchi asked, "What happened?"

"Kuro attacked me, and while we were fighting, we were talking about teasing," Ichigo said. "Then I told him that he might have become a better fighter if he hadn't spent all his time teasing Kisshu about his hair. Then he froze, and Kisshu and Hiro-sama came."

"He froze?" Mrs. Amaguchi asked.

"I felt Kuro's emotions go from still slightly playful to pure rage, so I teleported to him and hid, then used one of his paralysis darts to paralyze him," Yusuke said. "The reason he told me to use those poison darts is because I'm actually a better shot than he is."

"Where is Kuro now?" Mrs. Amaguchi asked.

"Hiro-sama took him to the Council," Kisshu replied. "It's up to them to decide his fate."

"I understand, and I already told Siria-sama that I would abide by whatever they decide," Mrs. Amaguchi said.

"Am I still grounded?" Yusuke asked. "I only snuck out because I knew you'd say no to me going to a battle like that."

Mrs. Amaguchi sighed. "Fine, you're not grounded, but I expect you to warn me next time you go running off like that. I won't necessarily say no if you're going to go help someone. And it worries me when you disappear like that."

"Okay, Mom," Yusuke said.

"We should go," Kisshu said.

"Alright, thank you," Mrs. Amaguchi said.

"You're welcome, and thanks for stopping Kuro, Yusuke," Ichigo said.

"Welcome," Yusuke said with a smile.

Kisshu took Ichigo's hand and teleported back to their house. Aunt Hamaya met them in the main room, and asked, "Where have you two been?"

"You didn't hear?" Ichigo asked.

"Uh-oh…." Aunt Hamaya said.

"Yeah," Kisshu said. "Amaguchi Kuro kidnapped Ichigo, and then sent his younger brother to kill me. Luckily Yusuke decided to tell me about Kuro's plans, and I took him to the Council. Hiro-sama and I went to stop Kuro, but Yusuke actually beat us there, and paralyzed Kuro. Hiro-sama took him back to the Council room, and they'll decide what to do with him. Ichigo and I took Yusuke home."

Aunt Hamaya sighed. "I wonder what's going on," she muttered. "First Mizuki, now Kuro- it's like everyone suddenly is out to get you, Kisshu."

"That's not good," Kisshu said. "If this keeps up, the Council's going to start having doubts about me living here."

"Well, let's hope Mizuki and Kuro are the last of it," Ichigo said. "It's going to be hard if people are continually going after you."

"Well, we'll have to see what the Council says after this," Aunt Hamaya said. "I'll go tell Aran what's going on." She teleported out.

Kisshu sighed, then said, "Should we go back to our room?"

"Sure," Ichigo said. They walked back to their room, and sat down on the bed together. "I'm kind of tired," Ichigo said.

Kisshu yawned. "Me too," he said. "Wanna go to sleep for a while?"

"Sure," Ichigo said, lying back. Kisshu lay back too, and Ichigo snuggled up to him as they both fell asleep.

They woke up about three hours later, since Aunt Hamaya was shaking them. "What's up?" Kisshu asked, realizing that he felt terrible.

"What's up? You and Ichigo are both running fevers, that's what's up," Aunt Hamaya said.

Kisshu started coughing before he could respond. Ichigo was coughing too.

"You two are really sick," Aunt Hamaya said. "Take it easy, I'm getting some soup for you."

"I'm not really hungry…." Ichigo said.

"Neither am I," Kisshu said.

Aunt Hamaya sighed. "I'll save it for later, then," she said. "Get some rest."

Kisshu and Ichigo started to go back to sleep.

By the next day, it was pretty clear that Kisshu and Ichigo were really sick. But Aunt Hamaya couldn't figure out what they had. Finally she called Pai, who came in and examined them both. Unfortunately, he was clueless as well. Since they had the same illness, he took a blood sample from Ichigo, and went to work on figuring out what was wrong and how to fix it.

Meanwhile, Ichigo and Kisshu were stuck in bed, since they didn't want to get anyone else sick. They didn't get much rest either; they both had bad coughs to go along with the fevers. Due to the coughs, they were constantly waking up, and getting weaker from lack of sleep. They had both lost their voices, and were frustrated by that. So far they could still sit up, but they knew if this kept up, they'd be too weak to do that soon.

One morning they both woke up with really bad headaches. Kisshu started coughing, and as soon as he did, he felt like his head was going to explode from the pain. Ichigo wasn't any better. Kisshu stopped coughing before Ichigo, and lay back, but he knew he couldn't sleep now. Suddenly he realized he was dizzy too, and it looked like Ichigo had discovered the same thing, because she nearly fell back with a hand over her eyes. Kisshu closed his eyes, but that didn't really help. All of a sudden, the pain in his throat doubled, and he put a hand on his throat as he heard a small squeak of pain from Ichigo as well. Kisshu opened his eyes and looked at Ichigo, who was actually crying from the pain.

As usual, seeing Ichigo in pain made Kisshu's heart break. He didn't like seeing her in pain. He put a hand on her cheek- and both of them were enveloped in a white light. Strangely, the light didn't hurt. Then something strange happened. A woman dressed in green with pink hair like Ichigo's Mew Form seemed to be walking toward them. They were floating, and the woman stopped in front of them. Suddenly Kisshu and Ichigo realized they felt better, and Ichigo asked, "Who are you?"

"I am your guardian," the woman said. "When two people are as deeply and truly in love as you two are –and that's actually pretty rare- they are given a guardian. I have come to tell you that another evil is rising, this time on Cyniclonia. It will take your combined strength and the power of your love to defeat this enemy. It will be here soon. Do not speak of this conversation to anyone but each other, or misfortune will befall many. Do not even tell the Council. They will find out soon enough, but you two should be prepared, as the fight will draw both of you in. Through it all, you must keep faith in each other, or your people will fall. The fate of your planet now rests in your hands. And lives depend on you two keeping this conversation a secret. Ichigo, I will give you the power of telepathy. Use it to communicate with Kisshu, and only Kisshu." She touched Ichigo's forehead for a minute, then gently tapped her finger against Ichigo's cheek. "Remember, tell no one of this conversation," she said. "Farewell, and good luck."

Before Ichigo or Kisshu could say anything, the woman and the white light were gone, as if they had never been.

**Interesting twist, huh? REVIEW!**


	35. The New Threat

**Betraying My People Chapter 35:**

**The New Threat**

After the white light faded, Kisshu and Ichigo realized they felt a lot better. Their sore throats were gone, and so far it looked like their coughs were gone as well. Aunt Hamaya came in and asked, "How are you two feeling today?"

"We're feeling better, actually," Kisshu said.

Aunt Hamaya came over and felt their foreheads. Her eyes widened, and she said, "Your fevers are completely gone!"

"That's good news," Kisshu said, sitting up. "I'm hungry, can I have something to eat?"

"Sure," Aunt Hamaya said. "Ichigo, are you hungry?"

"Yes, actually," Ichigo said, sitting up.

"I'll go make some soup," Aunt Hamaya said. "You stay here, I'll call you when it's ready." She teleported out.

Kisshu got up and stretched. "I feel great, it's like I was never sick," he said.

"Same here," Ichigo said, getting up too. She lowered her voice and said, "Do you think it has something to do with our Guardian?"

"Most likely," Kisshu said in an equally quiet voice. "Should we try using telepathy together?"

"Sure, how does it work?" Ichigo asked.

"Focus on me and think what you want to say," Kisshu said.

Ichigo concentrated, and then Kisshu heard, _Can you hear me?_

_Yep, _he said. _I wonder what the new threat is?_

_I don't know, _Ichigo replied. _Do you think the reason we can't tell the Council is because someone is a traitor?_

_It's possible, but whatever the reason, we have to keep quiet. People will think we were delirious anyways, _Kisshu said. _After all, up until about ten minutes ago, we both had pretty high fevers._

_You're right, _Ichigo said. _I wonder if our illness had something to do with our Guardian?_

_Maybe, _Kisshu said. _I guess we'll have to wait this out, it doesn't make sense to worry yet._

Ichigo nodded, and then Aunt Hamaya came back and said, "I made some soup, are you two feeling up to coming out?"

"Yeah, we feel fine," Ichigo said. She and Kisshu followed Aunt Hamaya to the kitchen table, and sat down to eat.

Uncle Aran came in as they were finishing, and said, "I'm glad you're both feeling better, we were pretty worried."

"Sorry," Ichigo said. "Did Pai ever figure out what caused this?"

"No, and that worries me," Uncle Aran said. "But at least you're both up and feeling better."

"Thanks, Uncle Aran," Kisshu said. He turned to Ichigo and said, "How about taking a walk?"

"Sure," Ichigo said.

"You two should get cleaned up first, you're both pretty sweaty from the fevers," Aunt Hamaya said.

"Okay," Kisshu said. "Koneko-chan, you can go first."

"Thanks Kisshu," Ichigo said, getting up. She went back to their room, and got some clothes, then went to take a bath.

When she was finished, she got dressed and went back to the room she and Kisshu shared. Kisshu was waiting, and as soon as she came in, he teleported to the bathroom. A while later, they were both clean, and Kisshu teleported them outside. It was nice out again, so they decided to walk to the special place Kisshu had found.

They reached the little clearing, and lay down in the grass. "It's so peaceful here," Ichigo said dreamily. "I'm so lucky to live here rather than Earth."

"I'm glad you're happy here," Kisshu said.

"Frankly, I'd be happy wherever you are," Ichigo said. They looked at each other and smiled.

Suddenly they noticed it was getting darker, and the wind was picking up. "Maybe we're about have a storm," Kisshu said. "I guess we'd better get back." He took her hand and teleported. Strangely, they didn't go anywhere. "Something's not right," Kisshu said. "I guess we have no choice but to walk back."

Before they could go anywhere, their Guardian appeared in a transparent form before them. "You must be careful, this is not a natural storm," she said. "The attack will begin soon. You must go to your family, and protect them."

"But my teleporting is messed up for some reason!" Kisshu said. The woman's eyes widened. Then she placed a hand on Kisshu's chest, and he began to glow. "You should be able to teleport fine now," the woman said. "Go to your family." Kisshu nodded and teleported Ichigo back to their house. Everyone was gathered in the living room, and Aunt Hamaya said, "Thank goodness you're okay! It's turning into a hurricane out there!"

"Something doesn't feel right about this hurricane," Pai said. "It doesn't feel like a normal storm."

"Should we inform the Council?" Uncle Aran asked.

"If it isn't a normal storm, they will have noticed," Pai said. "At least two of the Council can control the weather like me."

Kisshu thought of something and told them, "Ichigo and I are going back to our room, see you later."

"Okay," Uncle Aran said. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Just a little tired," Kisshu said. He and Ichigo walked back to their room. Kisshu closed the door, and sighed. "Let's switch to telepathy," he said softly. Ichigo nodded, sitting down on the bed.

_If someone on the Council is creating this storm, it explains why our Guardian said not to tell the Council about her warning, _Ichigo said.

_Yeah, but if it is someone on the Council, who? _Kisshu asked.

_Someone who wants control, and who can alter the weather, _Ichigo said. _I don't know anyone on the Council besides Hiro-sama and Siria-sama, so I wouldn't know. I guess we'll find out eventually; if that person wants control, he or she will have to take it, and then we'll know who to defeat. I just hope this battle doesn't involve Cyniclons turning into kittens._

_Yeah, me too, _Kisshu said. _I know Pai and Taruto like to go back to Earth sometimes, but I don't really have any desire to visit as often, since you live here. If Cyniclons start turning into kittens again, we might have to bring Keiichiro's machine thing back here._

_I hope Pai's notes don't get stolen again, _Ichigo said. _That's the thing the traitor would need if he or she wanted to turn Cyniclons into kittens again._

Kisshu sighed. _This is too complicated, _he complained. _It's a lot of pressure learning the fate of Cyniclonia rests in our hands._

_We've got each other, _Ichigo said. _And as long as we believe in each other, I think we'll manage._

Kisshu took her hand and kissed it. _You're right, _he said. _I love you, Koneko-chan._

_I love you more, Kisshu, _Ichigo said. _I can't imagine spending my life with anyone but you._

_I feel the same, _Kisshu said. _I knew from the moment I met you that no one else could ever even be considered._

Ichigo smiled sadly and said, _I can't say that, but I'm glad I fell in love with you. You mean the world to me, Kisshu._

_You're the reason for my existence, _Kisshu said. _I guess we both found our soulmate._

Ichigo smiled again, happily this time, and said, _I agree. That's probably why we have a Guardian. _

Kisshu smiled back, but then there was banging on the door, and Aunt Hamaya called, "Are you two awake?"

"Yep," Kisshu said. "Is something wrong?"

Aunt Hamaya came in and said, "All the strongest warriors are being called to the Council room. I don't know why, but I was told to get you both."

"We're on our way," Kisshu said, and took Ichigo's hand, then teleported to the door to the Council room. He knocked, and a voice said, "Come in!"

Kisshu opened the door and Ichigo followed him in, closing the door behind her. There were six other Cyniclons in the room, and Ichigo and Kisshu copied them by going down on one knee. They noticed Siria-sama and Hiro-sama were missing, and then one of the women on the Council stood and said, "We've called you all here to inform you that Siria-sama and Hiro-sama have disappeared. We believe this means we are about to face some sort of attack, but we cannot tell when or where it will happen. You are the best warriors on Cyniclonia. We will need your strength in order to win. Keep your eyes open, and your guard up."

"Hai!" Kisshu, Ichigo, and the others said.

The woman nodded, then said, "Kisshu, Ichigo, please stay. The rest of you may go."

The others teleported out as the woman said, "You two may rise."

Kisshu and Ichigo got to their feet, and the woman said, "Do either of you have thoughts on what may have happened?"

"Unless someone stole Pai's research again and turned them into kittens, no," Kisshu replied. "I don't suppose Pai's mentioned anything like that recently?"

"No, we haven't seen Pai recently," the woman said. "We also haven't seen you two around, is everything alright?"

"Kisshu and I got sick, and today's really the first day we've been back on our feet," Ichigo said.

The woman and a few others on the Council immediately looked worried. "Do you think it has something to do with the new threat?" one asked.

"Considering how quickly we got better, I don't believe the new threat has anything to do with it," Kisshu replied. "If it was the one attacking, surely he or she would want to keep us down longer than a few days."

"You have a point there," the woman said. "Well, if you have no ideas on what may have happened, you might as well go home. We will keep you informed."

Kisshu and Ichigo bowed, then Kisshu teleported Ichigo home.

**This was probably boring, but I hope to have more out soon. Review!**


	36. The Storm Hits Home

**Betraying My People Chapter 36:**

**The Storm Hits Home**

Kisshu and Ichigo landed in the main room, where Aunt Hamaya, Uncle Aran and Pai were waiting. "What was that about?" Uncle Aran asked.

"Siria-sama and Hiro-sama are missing, and there's some kind of new enemy that will most likely be here soon," Kisshu said. "We've been ordered to keep our guard up."

"Does that explain the weird storm we're having?" Pai asked.

"Maybe," Kisshu said. "The storm hasn't died down yet?"

"No, in fact it's getting worse," Pai said. "I hope the person who created it didn't lose control of the spell."

Kisshu's eyes widened. "If the creator lost control, doesn't that mean there's no way to stop the storm?" he asked. "You're always telling me how dangerous it is to mess with the weather."

Pai looked worried and said, "You're right, if the spell goes out of control, the storm will be unstoppable. I guess we'd better hope that's not the case, because if the storm keeps up like this, there'll be nothing left."

Now everyone looked worried. "We finally got the planet back to being beautiful, and now we're in danger of losing everything again," Aunt Hamaya said. "What are we going to do?"

"I'm going back to my lab to see if the storm can be stopped," Pai said. "If I find something, I'll inform you and the Council."

"Alright," Uncle Aran said. "Good luck." Pai nodded and teleported out.

"I hope he can figure it out," Aunt Hamaya said.

"This is Pai we're talking about, remember?" Kisshu said. "You know he won't give up till he's found a solution."

"You're right, Kisshu," Uncle Aran said. "Let's save our worries for now."

"I'm going to go make dinner," Aunt Hamaya said. "You all have a good time." She went to the kitchen.

"I'm off to read," Uncle Aran said. "You two have fun, but don't go too far."

"Pai's already told us that five times," Kisshu said. "Don't worry, we won't."

"So Pai was acting like me while you all were on Earth?" Uncle Aran asked, chuckling.

"Yeah," Kisshu said. "Every time we told him we were going back to our room, he'd say, "Don't go too far." It got so irritating."

"Well, I'm sure he did it for your sakes," Uncle Aran said.

"That's what I said," Ichigo said.

Uncle Aran smiled, then walked off to read.

Kisshu and Ichigo walked back to their room and closed the door, then sat on the bed. "What should we do now?" Ichigo asked- just as they heard Aunt Hamaya scream.

They jumped to their feet and Kisshu teleported- or tried to. He ended up in the same spot, so he tried the door. It was locked, and there was some kind of spell on it. "We're trapped!" he told Ichigo. "What is going on around here?"

Ichigo looked scared. "I don't know," she said. "I'm guessing the new threat just took Aunt Hamaya, though."

"Transform," Kisshu said. "You might need to, even though we're currently trapped."

Ichigo nodded, and shouted her transformation. "It's a good thing I learned I don't need a pendant," she said when she was transformed. "I still have no clue what happened that night."

"Oh well, at least you can still transform," Kisshu said. Then he smirked. "Though the old outfit was cuter."

"It was also too revealing, which is probably why you liked it," Ichigo said. "Hentai."

Kisshu smirked, and was about to say more, but Ichigo held a finger to her lips and pointed to the door. _Someone's coming, _she said telepathically. _And it's not anyone in our family. No one in our family walks that heavily._

_You're pretty observant, _Kisshu commented- just as the door fell in. A tall Cyniclon wearing a face mask stood there, with a sword in one hand. He obviously meant to look intimidating, but Kisshu just sighed. "Did you have to break the door down?" he asked. "I liked that door."

"Those were pretty weird last words," the Cyniclon said. Kisshu noticed the muscles in his shoulder shift, and took out his Dragon Swords, then sidestepped a thrust and as the Cyniclon stepped forward, Kisshu tripped him up. He fell, and his sword slid over to Ichigo, who picked it up.

"That was too easy," Kisshu said. "Don't you have any more than that?"

The Cyniclon got up and lifted a hand, a ball of energy forming on his palm. Kisshu slashed his hand, and the energy ball disappeared. "Who are you?" Kisshu asked. "And why are you doing this?"

The Cyniclon took off his mask, and Kisshu's eyes narrowed. "I should have guessed," he said in disgust. "You're one of two members of the Council who can control weather. Gen."

"That's right," Gen said. "I created that storm, and kidnapped Siria-sama, Hamaya and Aran."

"Why?" Kisshu asked.

"I want control of the Council, and with Siria out of the way, I can take over with the brainwashing machine I stole from Sanosuke before he died," Gen said. "I've already got Choji-sama and his wife on board, it won't be hard to brainwash the others."

"And why did you kidnap Hiro-sama?" Kisshu asked. "Not to mention Aunt Hamaya and Uncle Aran?"

"Hiro is so loyal to Siria that the brainwashing machine wouldn't work anyways," Gen said. "And I wanted to get you out of the way, so I got your family away so I could brainwash them after I kill you."

"You think it's going to be that easy to kill me?" Kisshu asked incredulously. Gen smirked, and suddenly Kisshu started to get a sense of foreboding. This sense was proven correct as Gen teleported directly in front of Ichigo and put a finger on her forehead. A gold spark faded into her skin, and Gen said, "There."

"What did you do to her!?" Kisshu shouted.

"Brainwashed her," Gen said calmly. Kisshu's eyes widened, and he looked at Ichigo. She shook her head, then said, "What was that? Now I've got a headache."

"Ichigo! Attack Kisshu!" Gen commanded.

Ichigo looked at him, confused. "Why? I love him," she said. Gen's eyes widened. "Damn. The brainwashing technique didn't work," he snarled.

Ichigo looked thoughtful. "Ryou couldn't brainwash me either," she said. "I wonder if I'm somehow immune to being brainwashed?"

Gen snarled and while Kisshu wasn't looking, shot a spark at him. Kisshu cried out, but then his eyes went blank. "KISSHU!" Ichigo screamed.

Gen smirked. "That worked," he said. "Can you really fight the one you love?"

Ichigo looked terrified. "Kisshu, don't you remember me?" she asked.

Instead of answering, Kisshu took out his swords and lunged at her. Ichigo dodged, but didn't take out her weapon. "Kisshu, it's me! Ichigo!" Ichigo said. "Don't let Gen take over your mind!"

Kisshu remained silent, and Ichigo kept dodging his attacks. Ichigo decided to try telepathy, but she found her connection to Kisshu was severed. _Only one thing left, _she thought. As Kisshu lunged again, Ichigo stood still, and as soon as Kisshu got close enough, she wrapped her arms around him, crying out as his blade pierced her stomach. Trying to ignore the pain, she then kissed Kisshu, putting all her love for him behind it. With her eyes closed, she didn't notice that Kisshu's eyes had gone from blank to horrified. She felt the blade leave her stomach, and opened her eyes, letting Kisshu go. "Do you remember me?" she asked.

"Ichigo…" Kisshu whispered as the cat girl then collapsed. "ICHIGO!"

Kisshu turned to Gen, but he was gone, strangely. Then Kisshu knelt next to Ichigo and put his hands over the wound, tears running down his face. He began to glow green, and the glow started to flow into Ichigo's wound. About five minutes later, the wound closed and the glow faded.

Kisshu waited, and was relieved to see Ichigo open her eyes. "Kisshu?" she asked.

"Ichigo, I'm sorry!" Kisshu cried. Ichigo sat up and hugged Kisshu, who immediately buried his face in her shoulder, his shoulders shaking with suppressed sobs.

"Kisshu, it's okay," Ichigo said softly. "As long as you're back to normal, it's okay."

"But I almost killed you!" Kisshu cried.

"I'm fine," Ichigo said. "You returned to normal and healed me. It's not your fault, it's Gen's."

Kisshu pulled back, and saw that Ichigo was smiling at him. "It's like our Guardian said," she said softly. "Our love will prevail."

"You're really okay?" Kisshu whispered.

"Yep," Ichigo said. "Your healing powers are great." She reached up and wiped Kisshu's tears away. She noticed he wasn't calming down, and said gently, "Kisshu, really, I'm fine. You worry too much."

Kisshu just hugged her tightly. She started stroking his hair, and eventually he fell asleep in her arms. She gently picked him up and tucked him into their bed, then sat down to watch him.

**Little bit of drama there. Don't worry, Kisshu's not getting sick again. He just wore himself out worrying. Review plz!**


	37. Bad Hair Day

**Betraying My People Chapter 37:**

**Bad Hair Day**

Ichigo was still watching Kisshu sleep about two hours later. She had already checked to make sure he wasn't sick, so she knew he was just worn out from worrying.

Another hour passed before Kisshu stirred, and as soon as he was awake, he asked, "Ichigo?"

"I'm right here," Ichigo said.

"How long have I been sleeping?" Kisshu asked.

"It's been about three hours," Ichigo said gently. "I put you to bed after you fell asleep in my arms. You were pretty worn out."

Kisshu sat up, and said, "I was really worried about you. Please don't do something like that again."

"If I hadn't, I would have died anyways," Ichigo said. "I don't have the training to beat you in a sword match. And I couldn't bring myself to hurt you, no matter what."

Kisshu was starting to look sad again, and Ichigo said, "Kisshu, we still have to save our family and the rest of our people. I'm fine, so don't get so depressed. We both need to stay strong."

Kisshu looked at her, and smiled reluctantly. "You're right, like always," he said. "Any ideas?"

"We should try to find our family, Siria-sama and Hiro-sama, and tell them what's happening," Ichigo said. "After that, we can all work together to defeat Gen."

"Where should we look, though?" Kisshu asked.

"You can't teleport to someone?" Ichigo asked.

"Only if I know where they are," Kisshu said.

"Can you sense where they are?" Ichigo said. "Maybe that'll show you where they are. They're probably all together."

Kisshu closed his eyes and concentrated. "Uh-oh, it looks like they're all tied up in a little hut in the woods, and the storm's still going," he said finally. "Let's go get them." He got up, and took Ichigo's hand, then teleported to the hut. They landed outside, and Kisshu put a hand over the latch, checking for anything suspicious. Both he and Ichigo were already soaked from the rain, but luckily, there was no spell on the door. Kisshu took out his Dragon Swords, and cut the door down. Then he and Ichigo went in. Sure enough, Aunt Hamaya, Uncle Aran, Siria-sama, Hiro-sama, Pai and Taruto were all tied up. Ichigo and Kisshu immediately began untying them, and soon they were all free. Siria-sama stood up and sighed. "Thank you both for freeing us," she said. "What is the situation right now?"

"Gen said he was going to brainwash the Council with the help of Choji-sama and his wife," Kisshu said. "I don't know how far he's gotten in doing that."

"Why?" Siria-sama asked. "Weren't you there until you found us?"

"Gen brainwashed Kisshu into attacking me," Ichigo said. "I managed to get him back to normal, but I got injured in the process, and Kisshu used up a lot of energy healing me. That was about three hours ago, and I don't know what happened after Gen left, since I was looking after Kisshu, who wore himself out healing and worrying about me."

"Are you both okay?" Aunt Hamaya asked.

"We're fine," Ichigo said. "But I think we should get back, the storm's still going."

"You're both soaked, were you walking around to look for us?" Hiro-sama asked.

"No, we teleported straight here, but I wanted to make sure we could get out again, so I slashed up the door, and Ichigo and I got soaked just being out there for five minutes," Kisshu said. "It's pretty bad out there."

"I suppose we'd be better off teleporting home, then," Uncle Aran said. "Siria-sama, Hiro-sama, you are both welcome to come with us. I don't think it's wise to go straight back to the Council if Gen may have brainwashed them."

"I agree," Hiro-sama said. "We appreciate your hospitality."

"Let's go, the wind's picking up," Siria-sama said. The others nodded, and they all teleported to the main room of the Ikisatashi's home.

Aunt Hamaya noticed Kisshu and Ichigo looked cold, and said, "You two need to get out of those wet clothes before you catch a cold."

"Okay," Kisshu said. He and Ichigo went back to their room, and got some fresh clothes. Deciding it wasn't the end of the world if they changed together, they both went into the bathroom and started drying their hair and skin. Ichigo changed quickly, and looked at Kisshu. Then she giggled. "Your hair is standing on end," she told him in response to his puzzled look.

Kisshu looked in the mirror and winced. Then he grabbed a comb and started trying to comb his hair, which was pretty messy. After the fifth time he hit a tangle, Ichigo said, "Here, I'll do it. It helps if you wet the comb sometimes." She ran the comb under the tap water, and then went over to Kisshu. Then she started combing out his hair. Soon she was done, and she said, "All set. You can put your hairties in now."

Kisshu did so, and said, "Thanks, Koneko-chan."

"Sure," Ichigo said. "Let's go back to the others."

When they went out to the main room, Taruto immediately said, "What took you so long?"

"Kisshu was having a bad hair day," Ichigo said.

"Not surprising, grass isn't easy to comb," Taruto said in a disgruntled tone of voice.

Kisshu lowered his head, and as he walked away, Ichigo, Pai, Uncle Aran, and Aunt Hamaya all shouted, "TARUTO!"

Taruto gulped as Siria-sama and Hiro-sama looked confused. "Um, can someone explain what just happened?" Hiro-sama asked.

Aunt Hamaya sighed. "Kisshu's very sensitive about 'grass' comments," she said. "He got teased a lot because of his hair when he was younger, and even now. Not to mention everyone was jealous because of his fighting skill." She glared at Taruto.

"I had green hair when I was young," Siria-sama said unexpectedly. "I got teased too, actually. I'll go talk with Kisshu. The rest of you stay here." She walked off as the others bowed slightly, then went back to glaring at Taruto, who was getting very nervous.

_**With Kisshu: **_Kisshu was lying facedown on his bed, and didn't look up to see who was coming into his room. He just said, "Whoever just came in should go tell Taruto to jump off a cliff."

"I don't think there _are _any cliffs in this area," Siria-sama said in an almost teasing tone.

This, naturally, caused Kisshu to look up sharply. Then he jumped up and bowed, saying, "I-I'm sorry about that…."

"It's fine, I understand you being upset," Siria-sama said. "I was born with green hair too, you know. It's not easy."

Kisshu looked at her, surprised. Siria-sama smiled and said, "I bet you get teased a lot, and it really hurts, because you had no control over your hair color."

Kisshu looked sad, and said, "Yeah…."

"I was the same way," Siria-sama said. "It never stopped hurting that people didn't like me simply because my hair was different. As time went on, and I became the leader of the Council, people stopped teasing me, and now the majority of our people forget that I used to be the one with weird hair. But I want you to know that you're not the only one who had to go through this. And you got lucky with Ichigo, I've heard some of her comments on how beautiful she thinks your hair is."

Kisshu smiled slightly. "You're right," he said. "Thanks, Siria-sama."

"You're welcome," Siria-sama said with a smile. "Let's go back and plan our next move against Gen. I'm sure the others are done with Taruto by now."

_**Back with the others: **_Taruto was still getting scolded. Just as Siria-sama came back with a more cheerful Kisshu, Aunt Hamaya yelled, "And you're grounded for two months!"

Kisshu laughed, and the others turned. "Good to see you're happier," Uncle Aran said. "Was Siria-sama helpful?"

"Hai, very," Kisshu said. "So now I can gloat about Taruto's punishment, right?"

"Wrong," Aunt Hamaya said. "Unless you want to get grounded too."

Ichigo giggled as Kisshu scowled and said, "Fine, I'll gloat where no one can hear me."

Aunt Hamaya sighed but didn't pursue the subject. Then Taruto said, "Do I _have _to apologize?"

"I can add floor cleaning to the punishment," Aunt Hamaya said.

Taruto looked horrified and said, "Kisshu, I'm really sorry I made a comment about your hair."

"Just don't do it again," Kisshu said. "Because if there is a next time, you'll get strangled- _after _Aunt Hamaya grounds you."

Taruto gulped, and said, "Fine, no more hair comments."

Bringing things back to where they started, Hiro-sama said, "Shall we start planning?"

**A bit of a cliffie… I won't be posting till tomorrow or later, so in the meantime, you can send reviews! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!**


	38. Cookies

**Betraying My People Chapter 38:**

**Cookies**

Everyone was sitting in the main room of the Ikisatashi's house, trying to figure out what to do next.

"I think we need to find out what, if anything, happened while Kisshu was sleeping," Hiro-sama said.

"How?" Ichigo asked. "I don't think it's a good idea to just go to the rest of the Council and ask if Gen's been by, especially if he already brainwashed them."

"You've got a point there," Siria-sama said. "I think we need some indirect way of finding out what's been going on. Hiro, what about your wife? Would she know?"

"I can try to find out," Hiro-sama said. "I'll go now." He teleported out.

"I guess we wait," Kisshu said. "We can't do anything till we know the situation." The others nodded.

_**One hour later: **_"It shouldn't take this long," Kisshu said. "Maybe something happened. Pai, can you check?"

Pai closed his eyes and concentrated, then said, "You were right, Hiro-sama apparently got captured. They might have expected this. His wife is also there, tied up. In fact, they're both tied up in the Council room." Pai concentrated harder, then said, "The Council members all have blank eyes. I think we're too late."

"I hope there's a way to reverse that," Aunt Hamaya said.

"We need to focus on taking down Gen and rescuing Hiro-sama," Siria-sama said. "Most of the Council members won't really be a threat, but Gen is a different matter." She turned to Ichigo. "Do you think your friends on Earth would be willing to come back and help us?" she asked.

"I think so, but we have to let Keiichiro know," Ichigo said. "Pai, go call him, and explain the situation."

Pai nodded and teleported out. Ten minutes later, he came back and said, "We need to go to Earth now. Keiichiro will inform the Mews, and come up with something to placate their parents. Who's coming with me?"

"I will," Taruto said. Pai nodded and said, "I think that some of you should stay here, to handle things while we're gone."

"Good plan," Kisshu said. "Ichigo and I will stay."

"Alright," Pai said. "I think you two will be fine, so Mom, Dad and Siria-sama should come with me and Taruto."

"Fine," Siria-sama said. "Kisshu, Ichigo, stay safe."

"We will," Ichigo said. She and Kisshu bowed as the others teleported out.

When everyone was gone, Kisshu sighed. "We might have to stay here for a while," he said. "If Gen gets to more people than just the Council, we'll be in danger if we leave."

"You're right, but what about Hiro-sama and his wife?" Ichigo asked. "Do we just wait till the others get back?"

"We might as well," Kisshu said. "It won't take too long for them to get back, and then we can rescue Hiro-sama, his wife, and the Council, and take down Gen."

"I think we should at least get a better idea of what we're going to be getting into," Ichigo said. "Can you see where Hiro-sama is?"

Kisshu closed his eyes and concentrated, then said, "That abandoned building is getting popular. Hiro-sama and his wife are tied up in the basement. I don't see or sense anyone else there, though."

"Should we go get them?" Ichigo asked. "If there's no one around, we could get them, and teleport back here."

"Sounds good," Kisshu said. He took Ichigo's hand and teleported to the basement of the old abandoned building, and looked around. Hiro-sama and a middle-aged Cyniclon woman –his wife-, were tied up and unconscious in a corner. Kisshu and Ichigo ran over and started untying them. Then Ichigo tapped their foreheads, and they woke up. "Ichigo? Kisshu?" Hiro-sama asked. "You found us?"

"Hai," Kisshu said. "We need to get out of here, can you both teleport?"

"Hai," Hiro-sama said. "Let's go back to your place, it's safer there." Kisshu nodded, and they teleported back to the main room of the Ikisatashis' home.

Hiro-sama sighed. "All the Council members have been brainwashed," he said. "And Choji went along willingly. I guess we've got two traitors on our hands. Where are the others?"

"On their way to Earth, to bring the Mews back to help," Ichigo said. "They're safer there than here right now."

"Good," Hiro-sama said with relief. "I think we'll need all the help we can get. Especially if Gen decides to brainwash more than just the Council."

"You mean he'd start brainwashing our people?" Kisshu asked.

"Right," Hiro-sama said grimly. "I hope the others get back soon; we need more help."

A knock on the door caused them to jump. "Hiro-sama, hide," Kisshu whispered. "Ichigo and I will handle this."

Hiro-sama nodded, and he and his wife went to a nearby room and closed the door. Kisshu went to the door as the knock sounded again. He cautiously opened it, and saw Taruto's best friend, Yusuke. "What's up?" he asked.

"My mom is acting strange," Yusuke said. "She said yesterday that Taruto could come over, but today she said I could never see Taruto again. I don't know what's wrong, but I came to see Taruto anyways. Is he here? And why do you look worried?"

"You'd better come in," Kisshu said. Yusuke, puzzled, came in, and Kisshu closed and locked the door. That done, he sighed, and said, "Did you notice anything else strange about your mother recently?"

"Now that you mention it, her eyes looked different," Yusuke said. "Did something happen?"

"Hai," Kisshu said. Then he turned and called, "Hiro-sama, it's safe."

Hiro-sama and his wife came out of the room they were in, and Hiro-sama said, "What's up?"

"I think Yusuke's mother was brainwashed," Kisshu said. "From his description, it sounds like she was brainwashed by Gen."

"Mom was brainwashed? Why?" Yusuke asked, sounding scared.

"It may not just be her," Hiro-sama said grimly. "Gen has brainwashed everyone on the Council besides Siria-sama and myself. We were worried he might start brainwashing others, and what you've said proves it. I'm guessing he's starting with people close to the Ikisatashis. Frankly, I'm surprised he didn't brainwash you, Yusuke."

"Yusuke, when did you first notice your mom acting differently?" Ichigo asked.

"After she came back from her friend Mei's house, about three hours ago," Yusuke said.

"Mei is Gen's wife," Hiro-sama's wife commented.

"Yuna, you think Gen brainwashed Mrs. Amaguchi while she was visiting?" Hiro-sama asked.

"Hai," Yuna said. "It's a good thing Yusuke got away; he might have been the next victim, being so close to Taruto."

Yusuke was looking really scared. Ichigo came over and said, "Yusuke, we'll get your mom back to normal, I promise. You might be safer here for now, though. We can't let Gen get to you."

Yusuke nodded. "I'll stay," he said. "Where's Taruto?"

"He and Pai took my parents and Siria-sama to Earth to enlist some help," Kisshu said. "They should be back tomorrow morning."

"What if my mom comes looking for me?" Yusuke asked.

"I've been thinking about that, and I think we should put a spell on this house so only those we know are safe can get in," Hiro-sama said. "Locking the door is good, but if Gen breaks it down, we're all screwed."

"How do we do that?" Kisshu asked.

"Yuna and I can do it, you can go do something else," Hiro-sama said.

"Okay," Ichigo said. "I'm going to make cookies. Yusuke, do you want to help?"

"Sure," Yusuke said.

"Can I help?" Kisshu asked as they walked to the kitchen.

"Not after the last time," Ichigo said. "You ate half the cookie dough, and then you got sick, because there was raw egg in there. And I only got to make one batch."

"Fine…" Kisshu grumbled, and went back to their room to sulk.

Ichigo sighed and got out some measuring cups. "Yusuke, can you help me find the ingredients?" she asked.

"Sure, what do you need?" Yusuke asked.

"I need flour, sugar, milk and eggs to start," Ichigo said. "I'll get out a bowl, can you get the other things?"

"Yep!" Yusuke said, and went to a cabinet while Ichigo opened another and got out a big mixing bowl. Then she turned the oven on, and went back to the table. Yusuke had gotten the flour, sugar and milk, and was getting out the eggs. He brought them to the table, and said, "Is this good?"

"There's one more thing I need," Ichigo said. "Go into the little drawer to the left of the sink, and get out one of the bags in there. And don't tell Taruto about that drawer, no matter what."

"O-okay," Yusuke said. He went and got a bag out of the drawer, then closed it, and brought the bag back to Ichigo. She had already mixed the dry ingredients together, and was cracking the eggs in. She poured the milk in, and took the bag from Yusuke. "What are these, anyways?" Yusuke asked.

"It's something I brought back from Earth, called chocolate," Ichigo said. "It's really good. These are small pieces of chocolate for baking. And Taruto keeps looking for that drawer, because he's obsessed with chocolate. Don't tell him you know about it, okay? He'll eat the whole thing, and that's not good for him."

"Okay, I won't," Yusuke said. "Can I try a piece before you put it in the bowl?"

"Sure," Ichigo said with a smile. She opened the bag, took out a chocolate chip, and handed it to Yusuke, then poured the rest into the bowl.

"This tastes GREAT!" Yusuke said excitedly. "I can't wait to try the cookies."

"Can you grease a baking sheet for me?" Ichigo asked. "Then we can put the cookies in the oven."

"Sure, are the baking sheets in that drawer under the oven?" Yusuke asked.

"Yep," Ichigo said. Yusuke went over and got one, then took out a stick of butter, and started rubbing some onto the baking sheet. When he was done, Ichigo started forming the cookie dough into balls. Then she pressed each one down onto the pan, and put them in the oven. "Now we have to wait," she told Yusuke. "Let's get a cooling rack, and then go check on Kisshu."

"Okay!" Yusuke said.

Ichigo smiled and got out a cooling rack, then set a timer for twenty minutes, and said, "Let's go check on Kisshu."

Yusuke followed her to her room, where they found Kisshu lying on the bed, sound asleep. Ichigo went over and put a hand on his chest, making sure he wasn't sick. Luckily, he had just fallen asleep. Ichigo got an evil idea, smirked, and started tickling Kisshu. At first nothing happened, but then Kisshu woke up and sat bolt upright. Then he noticed Ichigo snickering and sighed. "You scared me," he said in a disgruntled tone.

"I'm sorry," Ichigo said, calming down a bit. "Did you have a nice nap?"

"I did until you started tickling me," Kisshu said.

"Are you still sulking?" Ichigo asked.

"Maybe…." Kisshu said.

"Well, the cookies will be done soon, so you can stop sulking," Ichigo said.

"Did you remember to swear Yusuke to secrecy about the chocolate drawer?" Kisshu asked.

"Of course," Ichigo said. "He promised not to tell- right Yusuke?"

"Hai," Yusuke said. "Kisshu, I didn't know you were ticklish."

"Don't get any ideas," Kisshu said warningly.

"Don't worry, I wasn't planning on tickling you," Yusuke said. He sniffed, and said, "I can smell the cookies. Should we go check them?"

"Sure," Ichigo said.

"Can I come?" Kisshu asked.

"Are you going to burn your mouth again?" Ichigo asked warily.

"No, I'll just look," Kisshu said sulkily.

"Then you can come," Ichigo said. She walked back to the kitchen, followed by Yusuke and Kisshu. Then she looked in the oven, and said, "Those look done." She took out a pair of oven mitts, and took the cookies out. She put the cookie sheet on the stove, and turned off the oven. Then she carefully slid the cookies onto a cooling rack. When she turned around, both boys were staring at her hungrily. "You two are drooling," Ichigo commented.

Both boys turned red and wiped their mouths. "It smells good," Kisshu said. "I can't help it."

"Jeez, how come every time I make chocolate chip cookies, you act like a little kid?" Ichigo asked.

"I do not!" Kisshu said.

"Yes, actually, you do," Ichigo said. "Although, to be fair, the last time I made them, I spotted Pai drooling too."

Kisshu burst out laughing. "PAI was drooling?" he asked.

"Yup, I guess he liked the smell too," Ichigo said. "Now we have to let the cookies cool."

"Awww…." Kisshu and Yusuke said.

Just then, Hiro-sama and Yuna came in and said, "We finished the spell. Now unwanted guests can't get in, but we can get in or out, and the others will be able to get in when they come back. Hey, what's that smell?"

"Chocolate chip cookies, they're cooling," Ichigo said. "You can all have some when they're done."

"Great, thank you," Hiro-sama said. "I guess we just wait for the others to come back."

**Okay, so no action again. But I wanted the Mews to be there before the fight, so…. yeah. I think Kisshu sulking is cute, though. Review!**


	39. Return of the Mews

**Betraying My People Chapter 39:**

**Return of the Mews**

Ichigo, Kisshu, Yusuke, Hiro-sama and Yuna were all sitting around eating chocolate chip cookies while waiting for the others to return.

"These are really good," Hiro-sama said.

"I'm glad you like them," Ichigo said. "The only thing I actually miss about Earth is chocolate, but whenever Pai and Taruto go, they bring back more, so it's not too bad."

"Where do they get it?" Yuna asked.

"Keiichiro is a baker, so he's got plenty," Ichigo said. "He's very good about sending some back."

"Well, I'm glad you made these," Yuna said.

Suddenly they heard teleportation, and tensed. Luckily it was just Pai and the others coming back. "Welcome back," Hiro-sama said.

"Thanks," Pai said. "We brought the Mews, how is everything here?"

"Not good on the outside," Kisshu said grimly. "Luckily for us, Hiro-sama and Yuna put a spell on this house so it will keep out unwanted guests."

"That's good, thank you," Pai said. "What is the situation here?"

"The entire Council except for me and Choji has been brainwashed, and Gen seems to be starting to brainwash people close to the Ikisatashi family," Hiro-sama said. "Amaguchi Yusuke's mother has been brainwashed, and I'm fairly certain it's only a matter of time before more people get brainwashed."

"Why wasn't Choji brainwashed?" Aunt Hamaya asked.

"He joined Gen," Hiro-sama said grimly. "They're working together now. We're going to have to take them both down to resolve this."

Siria-sama sighed. "I wonder why all this is happening now," she said. "First Sanosuke tried to take over, and now there are traitors in the Council itself."

"I don't know," Hiro-sama said. "But it seems to me that all this started after the Mew Aqua healed the planet."

"You're right," Pai said. "But what would that have to do with all these problems?"

"I hate to say this, but what if it has something to do with Kisshu?" Hiro-sama asked.

"What makes you say that?" Pai asked, as Kisshu looked worried.

"Well, Kisshu is the strongest warrior on our planet, and he's been getting more attention since he and the rest of you brought the Mew Aqua back and healed the planet," Hiro-sama said. "Mizuki, Kuro, and Gen have all made attempts to kill Kisshu, and whether it was jealousy or just wanting him out of the way, this is becoming a problem."

Siria-sama said somewhat sternly, "I don't believe it has much to do with Kisshu. Mizuki had been trouble from the day he set foot in the school; he could have gone for anyone. Kuro was always a hothead, and he wasn't a very good warrior, due to the fact that he spent all his time teasing people. And Kuro attacked Ichigo as well as Kisshu. Gen's only reason for attempting to kill Kisshu was that he was in the way, and I'm fairly certain that the reason we all got left in a small wooden hut in the middle of a hurricane was so he wouldn't have to kill us personally. I also know that you got kidnapped, Hiro-sama. I believe that Gen wants all of us out of his way. It's not Kisshu specifically that he wants."

Catching the sternness of her tone, Hiro-sama said, "You're probably right. I apologize."

Siria-sama nodded and said, "We need to figure out what's next. We're safe here for the time being, right?"

"Hai," Hiro-sama said. "The spell is still in place."

"Good," Siria-sama said. "Does anyone have suggestions on what to do now? We need a plan in order to take back the Council and reverse the brainwashing."

The others thought. Finally Zakuro said, "I think we need to find out who else has been brainwashed. We might be able to find more allies."

"And if everyone has been brainwashed, besides us?" Siria-sama asked.

"Then we need to reverse the brainwashing," Zakuro said. "We are too few to fight against all your people, and it would be wrong to injure or kill them while they're brainwashed."

"You're right there," Hiro-sama said. "But we're in danger if we leave here, how should we do this?"

"Split up into pairs," Zakuro replied. "We can go around and see what the situation is. You said the Cyniclons who have been brainwashed have blank eyes, right?"

"Hai," Ichigo said.

"Then we look to see how many people have blank eyes, and get a general idea of how bad the situation is," Zakuro said.

"I guess that seems like the best option," Hiro-sama said. "How should we set up the pairs?"

"Since none of us Mews can teleport, I think that we should pair up Mew and Cyniclon," Zakuro said. "That way, we can get out of a situation fast."

"Alright," Siria-sama said. "What are the pairs?"

"I'm taking Ichigo," Kisshu said.

"I will take Lettuce," Pai replied.

"I'll take Pudding," Taruto said.

"I'll take Kasumi," Hiro-sama said.

"I'll take Zakuro," Aunt Hamaya said.

"I'll take Mint," Uncle Aran said. "The rest of you should wait here, we'll be back."

"Very well," Siria-sama said. She looked at Yuna and Yusuke, who nodded.

The others teleported out to different parts of the town.

_**With Kisshu and Ichigo: **_They landed near the Amaguchi's house, and started walking around. They saw Mrs. Amaguchi, and hid. "She has blank eyes," Ichigo whispered.

Kisshu nodded, and teleported them elsewhere.

_**With Pai and Lettuce: **_They had already seen five Cyniclons, all with blank eyes. Pai was getting worried. "What if everyone IS brainwashed?" he asked softly.

"Then we'll find a way to get them back to normal," Lettuce said. "Do you think a machine is doing this?"

"Most likely," Pai said.

"If we find the machine and destroy it, maybe everyone will wake up," Lettuce said.

Pai looked at her, amazement clear on his face. Lettuce blushed. "That's a great idea, Lettuce-chan," Pai said, causing Lettuce to turn even redder. "Let's go find the machine."

_**With Taruto and Pudding: **_They had also seen several Cyniclons with blank eyes. "I guess everyone really has been brainwashed," Taruto said sadly. "I'm glad Yusuke didn't get brainwashed."

"Are Taru-Taru and Yusuke close, na no da?" Pudding asked.

"Yeah, we've been best friends for as long as I can remember," Taruto said. "And don't call me Taru-Taru."

"Aww…" Pudding said.

_**With Hiro-sama and Kasumi: **_Like the others, they too had seen several Cyniclons with blank eyes. Currently they were hiding, having spotted a few members of the Council walking around. Finally they came out of hiding, and Hiro-sama asked, "So how did you become a Mew?"

Kasumi was a bit startled, but said, "The guy who started the Mews somehow infused me with Cyniclon DNA without my knowledge. I met Ichigo when she came looking for Aoyama, Deep Blue's human host. She, Pai, Kisshu and Taruto took me back to the café the Mews used as a base, and told me the story. I was shocked when Ichigo showed me her human form, though."

"Why?" Hiro-sama asked.

"She was put on the 'missing persons presumed dead' list at the police station," Kasumi said. "Her neighbor had found her parents dead in their house, and Ichigo missing. Her friends got questioned, and they said they had no clue what had happened. Except for me and the other Mews, no one on Earth knows Ichigo is still alive. That's part of why she came here; it wasn't safe for her to reappear, unless she revealed the Mews. Also, she killed the guy who started the Mews. She would have gone to jail if she had come out of hiding."

"Why did she kill this guy?" Hiro-sama asked.

"Ichigo quit the Mews long before I joined," Kasumi said. "Ryou, the guy who created us, murdered her parents in retaliation. She joined Kisshu, thinking that she would help him take over the world. It didn't turn out that way, but at least she got the chance to avenge her parents by killing Ryou."

"Wow, she's been through a lot," Hiro-sama said.

Kasumi nodded as they kept walking.

_**With Aunt Hamaya and Zakuro: **_"It seems like everyone's got blank eyes," Aunt Hamaya said. "Do you think we should go back?"

"Might be a good idea," Zakuro said. Aunt Hamaya took her hand and teleported home.

_**With Uncle Aran and Mint: **_"Everyone here has blank eyes," Mint said. "It looks like Siria-sama was right, everyone has been brainwashed."

"I think we should go back, if everyone's been brainwashed, the others will be back soon," Uncle Aran said. Mint nodded, and Uncle Aran teleported back home.

_**Back with all the others: **_Mint and Uncle Aran teleported in to find everyone except Pai and Lettuce there.

"Where's Lettuce and Pai?" Mint asked.

"That's the problem, we don't know," Aunt Hamaya said. "Pai hasn't been back or contacted us. And Lettuce isn't responding on her pendant."

"This is bad," Ichigo said. "Not only has everyone been brainwashed, Pai and Lettuce are missing."

"Can't any of you sense where Pai is?" Zakuro asked.

"I can try again, it didn't work last time," Kisshu said. He closed his eyes and concentrated, then said in a distant voice, "They're in some sort of lab. It looks like they're searching for something." He opened his eyes.

"Do you have any idea where the lab is?" Siria-sama asked.

"No," Kisshu said. "Do you think they're looking for a way to reverse the brainwashing?"

"If they think a machine did this, that would explain it," Uncle Aran said. "I just hope the lab isn't teleport-proof."

"We just have to wait," Hiro-sama said. "If we don't know where they are, there's not much we can do right now."

"I guess…" Kisshu said. Suddenly he clutched his head. Ichigo ran to him as the others noticed Taruto, Aunt Hamaya, and Uncle Aran were doing the same thing. "What's wrong?" Ichigo asked worriedly.

"Pai's calling for help," Aunt Hamaya said. "He also managed to implant their location in our minds. Sorry if we worried you, he was rather loud about it."

"It's fine," Ichigo said. "We've got to go find them, though."

"Right," Kisshu said. "All of you who are coming, grab on to one of us."

The Mews and Hiro-sama obeyed, and the Ikisatashis teleported to Pai's location.

**What's going to happen now? Review and find out!**


	40. The Power of Their Love

**Betraying My People Chapter 40:**

**The Power of Their Love**

The Ikisatashis teleported everyone except Siria-sama, Yuna and Yusuke to a lab. It appeared to be empty, and Ichigo whispered, "Are we too late?"

Suddenly teleportation sounded in the room, and Gen and another Cyniclon teleported in. "You'll never find your friends," Gen said. "Choji and I hid them. And the brainwashing machine was successful. Everyone has been brainwashed besides your group. And that includes the entire Council!"

"Well, then we'll just have to take out your brainwashing machine," Kisshu snarled. "Then we can take you two down."

"You don't honestly think you'll win, do you?" Choji asked.

"So how'd you get roped into this, Choji?" Hiro-sama asked.

"Gen promised I'd be his right hand when the Council fell," Choji said, shrugging. "I never agreed with Siria-sama's decisisons anyways. Deep Blue shouldn't have died, but did she care? Not a bit, and she let his murderers live with us."

"You weren't there," Kisshu snarled. "Did he tell you that he never intended to help us? No? Well, he told me that, and somehow I doubt he was lying. You don't know anything about the situation, so don't tell us that we did the wrong thing by killing that monster."

Gen shrugged. "The past doesn't matter. What matters is that we're taking over, and you all are going down."

Ichigo got an idea, and closed her eyes. She concentrated on Lettuce's face, and it worked. Lettuce and Pai were tied up in the old abandoned building. They were in a room close to the staircase, and Ichigo knew what she had to do. She waited till Choji and Gen were distracted by Kisshu and Hiro-sama, and said to Kasumi, who was standing next to her, "Kasumi, focus on Lettuce's face, and take my hand, then teleport. I found her in the old abandoned building where you killed Sanosuke."

"I'll try," Kasumi said. She took Ichigo's hand and concentrated. Then they teleported, and found themselves in a room, where Pai and Lettuce were tied up, unconscious. The girls ran over and untied them, and Ichigo tapped their foreheads. They woke up, and looked confused.

"Where's the others?" Pai asked.

"They're in the lab still, but I found Lettuce, so I asked Kasumi to teleport me here," Ichigo said. "Can you teleport, Pai?"

"Hai," Pai said. "Let's go back to the lab."

Ichigo nodded and said, "Kasumi, can you teleport me back? Pai will take Lettuce."

"Hai," Kasumi said. She took Ichigo's hand and teleported, followed by Pai with Lettuce.

When they teleported in, the others looked up. Gen and Choji looked shocked. "How did you get free!?" Choji shouted.

"Ichigo and Kasumi got us out," Pai said. "Can you really fight against all of us?"

Gen smirked, and took a small remote out of his pocket. Ichigo, figuring he was trying to brainwash everyone, grabbed Kisshu's hand, right before a ripple of energy flowed over them. Except for Kisshu and Ichigo, everyone's eyes went blank.

"What will you do now? Your family and friends have been brainwashed," Gen smirked.

"We won't give up," Kisshu said.

"We're still going to take you down," Ichigo continued.

"And our power will overcome yours," they said together. They both began to glow, green for Kisshu, pink for Ichigo. _Don't let them separate us, _Kisshu said.

_I won't, and you do the same, _Ichigo replied.

The glow got brighter, and Gen and Choji shielded their eyes. Ichigo and Kisshu faced each other, their hands remaining clasped together. They looked into each others' eyes, and the glow surrounding them flowed over their family and friends. Their eyes cleared, and widened. Ichigo and Kisshu turned back to Gen and Choji. "We won't let you win," they said. "Our love is stronger than anything, including your evil." Kisshu snapped the fingers of his free hand, and the remote in Gen's hand exploded.

Ichigo snapped her fingers too, and the others were sent back to the Ikisatashi's house. Now she and Kisshu faced a stunned Gen and Choji alone. "H-how did you know that destroying the remote would reverse all the brainwashings?" Gen asked. "How did you even do all that?"

"We told you, our love is strong enough to overpower your evil," Ichigo said. "And as for the remote- we just didn't want you to be able to brainwash anyone else."

"I find it hard to believe that _love _can give you power," Choji said. "It's an emotion, nothing more."

"Emotions are power," Ichigo said. "True power comes from the heart. As one without a true heart, you could never understand."

"Your greed and evil could never understand the power that Ichigo and I share," Kisshu said. "We are the ones with true power, not you."

Gen snarled and said, "Then let's see this power." He took out a sword, and Choji did the same. Kisshu took out one of his swords, while Ichigo took out her Strawberry Blade. They were still holding hands, and knew to make this work, they'd have to remain in contact with each other. Luckily the contact meant that they could read each other's movements and thoughts.

Choji and Gen lunged forward, and Ichigo and Kisshu brought their swords up at the same time. They both stopped the blades aimed at them at the same time. Gen and Choji tried to force their blades down; they held on, then broke away suddenly, causing Gen and Choji to actually fall forward. Gen's blade fell, and Kisshu kicked it out of reach. Choji tried to get up, but Ichigo kicked him in the knee, and he fell, dropping his sword. Ichigo kicked it out of reach. Now both Gen and Choji were weaponless, and looked nervous.

Before Ichigo and Kisshu could finish them off, however, to all of their surprise, Siria-sama teleported in. Next to her was the woman who had said she was Kisshu and Ichigo's Guardian. The Guardian saw them look startled, and said, "Oneesama will take care of these two now. You two have done wonderfully. You fulfilled your role in saving the planet, and now you two are done. You can live your lives without fear of more trouble."

"Th-thanks," Ichigo said. "But you called Siria-sama 'Oneesama'."

"Oh, that's because she's my younger sister," Siria-sama said. "She died during the time when the planet was still pretty bad, and was given Guardianship of Kisshu, at first. You two were fated to fall in love, and when you did, Shina became Guardian to both of you."

Kisshu and Ichigo had their jaws on the floor, shocked. "Wait, why did I have a Guardian?" Kisshu asked.

"You were born to be the best warrior on this planet," Shina said. "Do you remember the rockslide?"

Kisshu looked sad and said, "Hai."

"Why do you think you were the only one who survived that rockslide?" Siria-sama said. "You were protected by Shina, even though she was just coming into her Guardian powers. She wasn't strong enough to stop the rockslide, but she made sure you would survive, and also made sure that you were taken in by Hamaya and Aran. They were the only ones at the time who knew about the Guardians, and I told them Kisshu had a Guardian. That's the reason they took you in, besides the fact that they thought Pai could use some company. That was before Hamaya discovered she was carrying Taruto. If Taruto had been a girl, they would have named him Shina."

Kisshu was now speechless, and Siria-sama said, "You can't tell anyone about this, though. It's important to keep the Guardians safe."

"We understand," Ichigo said. She nudged Kisshu, who looked like he was in shock. He snapped out of it at her touch and said, "Understood. We won't tell anyone."

Siria-sama nodded, and said, "I will take Gen and Choji back to the Council, and we will decide their fate. You two should get home, you look tired."

"Thank you, Siria-sama, Shina," Kisshu and Ichigo said. They bowed, and then Kisshu teleported Ichigo back home.

**Interesting little revelation there. I KNOW it's short, and I think there's not much left, but I'll do at least one more chapter. Review plz!**


	41. A Happy Ending

**Betraying My People Chapter 41:**

**A Happy Ending**

It had been five years since the defeat of Gen and Choji, and things couldn't have worked out better. True to Shina's word, there had been no more problems, and Kisshu and Ichigo could relax.

Over the past five years, a lot had changed. Pai and Lettuce had gotten married, and Lettuce had moved to Cyniclonia. She and Pai were both working on science projects to improve the planet's food sources. With help from Keiichiro, they had found a way to grow fruit on Cyniclonia, and the Cyniclons loved it.

Taruto had surprisingly moved to Earth, and lived with Pudding and her siblings now. He was working in the Café, and unfortunately for him, all the girls thought he was adorable. However, he and the Mews were about to come back to Cyniclonia for a very special event.

Kisshu and Ichigo had both reached the age where they could get married, and the wedding was coming up in a week. They had both been preparing for the wedding for quite a while. Aunt Hamaya had helped Ichigo sew her wedding dress, and it was finished. They had started thinking about food, and Aunt Hamaya was making the wedding cake. Ichigo was a little sad lately, though.

Kisshu noticed, and one day he asked, "Koneko-chan, is something wrong?"

Ichigo sighed. "I guess I always imagined my parents at my wedding," she said. "Aunt Hamaya and Uncle Aran are wonderful, but it's just strange for me. I miss them."

"I know how you feel," Kisshu said. "I thought my parents would get to see me grow up, but it just didn't happen that way. I'm guessing it's harder for you, since you knew your parents longer than I did."

"Yeah…." Ichigo said. "But as long as we love each other, I don't think anything's going to go wrong."

"Unless Taruto does something stupid like he did at Pai's wedding," Kisshu said. "Remember how he and Pudding decided to be the 'entertainment'?"

"Oh yeah, that didn't turn out well," Ichigo said, giggling. "They totally trashed the decorations."

"And Pai was so mad he told Taruto he was a nuisance and he should take his sorry ass and Pudding's monkey tail back to Earth," Kisshu said, chuckling.

"Do you think it's safe to invite them?" Ichigo asked.

"After Aunt Hamaya's lecture last time, I think it'll be fine," Kisshu said. "Do I get to see your wedding dress?"

"When it's on me, not now," Ichigo said, grinning.

Kisshu pouted, making Ichigo giggle even more.

_**One week later: **_The big day had arrived. Kisshu was waiting in the Council room, which had been turned into the equivalent of a church, like it had been for Pai and Lettuce's wedding. Pai was standing with him, and Hiro-sama was performing the ceremony.

Kisshu was wearing a dark green button down shirt with a collar similar to the shirt he usually wore, and black long pants tucked into his boots. His hair was in its usual style, and he was kind of nervous. Pai noticed and said, "It'll be fine, Kisshu. And don't worry about Taruto and Pudding, their toys have been taken away, so they can't cause mayhem like they did at my wedding."

Kisshu sighed. "That _is_ what I was worried about," he said. "I'm not worried that Ichigo will change her mind, or that I will. But I saw how unhappy you and Lettuce were when Taruto and Pudding basically destroyed your special day. I don't want that to happen to me and Ichigo. Especially not Ichigo, she's been missing her parents lately."

"I guess it's hard, not having your parents at your wedding," Pai said. "I think having you here for her will make up for it, though. She loves you so much. You really got lucky, Kisshu."

Kisshu smiled. "I know."

Their friends and family were filing in, and soon the room was full. All the Mews and Keiichiro were there, and Siria-sama had come as well.

Lettuce had been chosen to play the music, since she was good on piano, and now she started playing the Cyniclon version of 'The Wedding March'.

Everyone's eyes turned to the door, and clapped as Ichigo walked in on the arm of Uncle Aran. Kisshu beamed when he saw her; she looked absolutely radiant.

Ichigo realized she had never been happier as she walked down the aisle toward the love of her life. She was wearing a pale pink dress that came down to her ankles, which was embroidered with white lilies. It had a low V-neck, and long, full sleeves. She had let her hair grow much longer over the course of the last five years, and now it was pulled into a ponytail that hung over her left shoulder, tied with a white ribbon. She wore a silver chain around her neck, from which hung a pink diamond shaped like a heart.

She reached the end of the aisle, and let go of Uncle Aran's arm, smiling at him before joining hands with Kisshu. Uncle Aran went to sit with Aunt Hamaya as Hiro-sama began to speak.

"We are gathered here today to join together two hearts, as well as two races," Hiro-sama said. "Ichigo and Kisshu have not only saved our home numerous times, they have shown us that true love really does conquer all. I am truly honored to speak the words that will bind these two together forever. Ikisatashi Kisshu, do you swear to stay faithful to Ichigo, through good times and bad, through sickness and through health, and till the day you die?"

"I do," Kisshu said, his voice brimming with pure joy.

Hiro-sama smiled and turned to Ichigo. "Ikisatashi Ichigo, do you swear to stay faithful to Kisshu, through good times and bad, through sickness and through health, and till the day you die?" **(A/N: Ichigo had already taken the name Ikisatashi when Hamaya and Aran adopted her, that's why Hiro-sama didn't say 'Momomiya Ichigo').**

"I do," Ichigo said, with the same joy in her voice as in Kisshu's.

"Then you may give each other the rings," Hiro-sama said.

Ichigo and Kisshu each reached into their pockets, and pulled out a ring. Kisshu slid a slim silver band with a pink diamond onto Ichigo's ring finger, and then she slid a wider silver band with an emerald onto Kisshu's ring finger.

Hiro-sama put a hand on each of their shoulders, and said, "You two are now joined together in heart and soul. I now pronounce you husband and wife! You may kiss the bride, Kisshu."

Kisshu kissed Ichigo passionately, and she kissed back with equal passion as the crowd cheered. When they broke apart, they thanked Hiro-sama, and walked back down the aisle to their family.

Aunt Hamaya was crying, and she hugged both Kisshu and Ichigo. Uncle Aran also hugged them both, and soon they were surrounded by their friends, from Earth and Cyniclonia.

It was quite a while before the festivities ended, and by that point, Kisshu and Ichigo were exhausted. They went back to their room, and changed into their nightclothes. "I've never been so happy," Ichigo said softly. "I'm so glad everything worked out."

"I knew it would," Kisshu said. "I've never been this happy either. We're finally married, and we'll be together forever now."

"You're right," Ichigo said. "I love you, Kisshu."

"I love you too, my Koneko-chan," Kisshu said happily. Then he yawned, and Ichigo giggled.

The two of them curled up together, and spent their first night as a married couple sleeping happily, knowing that they'd be together forever.

**Very fluffy, right? This is the end of Betraying My People, and there won't be a sequel, just so you know. I hope you all enjoyed it, and that you'll review the last, and extremely fluffy, chapter!**


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